Geneva, Nov 20: An alarming 316 million women and 12.5 million adolescent girls worldwide have faced sexual violence in just the last 12 months, according to a new report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday.
Published ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25, the report warns that violence against women remains one of the world’s most persistent and under-addressed human rights crises, with minimal improvement over the past two decades.
The WHO findings reveal that nearly one in three women—about 840 million globally—have experienced intimate partner or sexual violence in their lifetime, a figure that has remained largely unchanged since 2000.
In the past year alone, 316 million women aged 15 or older (11%) were subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. Among adolescent girls aged 15–19, 12.5 million (16%) experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner.
The report notes that progress on reducing intimate partner violence has been “painfully slow”, with only a 0.2% annual decline in the last 20 years.
For the first time, WHO has also provided national and regional estimates of sexual violence perpetrated by non-partners. It found that 263 million women have endured sexual violence by someone other than a partner since age 15 — figures experts believe are vastly under-reported due to stigma, fear, and weak reporting mechanisms.
“Violence against women is one of humanity’s oldest and most pervasive injustices, yet still one of the least acted upon,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “No society can call itself fair, safe, or healthy while half its population lives in fear.”
The report underscores an urgent need for countries to fund and scale up evidence-based prevention programmes and ensure survivor-centred health, legal, and social services. It also calls for stronger data systems, enforcement of protective laws, and targeted efforts to support the most at-risk women and girls.
Humanitarian crises, digital exploitation, and widening socio-economic inequality, the report warns, are worsening the vulnerability of millions of women and girls worldwide.
