30% Women Suffer From Sexual Or Intimate Partner Violence, Reveals WHO Report

When it comes down to the harsh reality, quite a lot of women suffer from violence at the hands of sexual or intimate partners. According to a report by WHO, 30% of women actually face this. Sounds scary and sad at the same time.

The most common age group is between 16 to 49. There is a risk of their mental and reproductive health being affected. Not to mention the chances of HIV being passed on.

Here are some of the factors listed by WHO:

1. Lower levels of education (perpetration of sexual violence and experience of sexual violence)

2. A history of exposure to child maltreatment (perpetration and experience)

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3. Witnessing family violence (perpetration and experience)

4. Antisocial personality disorder (perpetration)

5. Harmful use of alcohol (perpetration and experience)

6. Harmful masculine behaviours, including having multiple partners or attitudes that condone violence (perpetration)

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7. Community norms that privilege or ascribe higher status to men and lower status to women

8. Low levels of women¡¯s access to paid employment

9. Low level of gender equality (discriminatory laws, etc.)

It is up to the people, be it man or woman, to stop such violence. These are not just statistics but human lives. Even while we celebrate International Women's Day every year, the stark reality is something entirely different.