Violence Against Women - Facts and Figures- New Zealand

MAKING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN COUNT, FACTS AND FIGURES

Making Violence against Women Count

Facts and Figures - a Summary

Published

The following statistics outline the gravity and magnitude of the problem of violence against women throughout the world. However, such figures do not show the true extent of this human rights violation. They cannot be comprehensive or exhaustive and must therefore be interpreted with caution. There is a lack of systematic research and statistics on violence against women. Many women do not report it - they are ashamed or fear scepticism, disbelief or further violence. The fact that there is no information on this problem in some countries and extensive information in others does not mean that the problem is country specific. On the contrary, it emphasizes the need for more research, so that it can be studied and tackled.

GLOBAL VILLAGE

How will violence against women look in a scaled down world, in a global village of 1,000 people? (the figures are based on statistics from UN, WHO and governmental and non-governmental organizations)

• 
  
  500 are women
• 
  
  It would be 510, but 10 were never born due to gender-selective abortion or died in infancy due to neglect
• 
  
  300 are Asian women
• 
  
  167 of the women will be beaten or in some other way exposed to violence during their lifetime
• 
  
  100 of the women will be victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime

WOMEN AND POPULATION

• 
  
  49.7% of the world population are women (3,132,342,000 women; 3,169,122,000 men) (UN Population Division).
• 
  
  At least 60 million girls who would otherwise be expected to be alive are "missing" from various populations as a result of sex-selective abortions or inadequate care as they are seen less important than boys (E, Joni Seager, 2003).

VIOLENCE IN THE FAMILY

Violence within the family takes different forms - from physical aggression, such as slapping, hitting, kicking and beating to psychological abuse, such as intimidation, constant belittling and humiliation, including various controlling behaviours, such as isolating a person from their family and friends, monitoring and restricting their movements, access to information or assistance.

Around the world

• 
  
  At least one in every three women, or up to one billion women, have been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in their lifetimes. Usually, the abuser is a member of her own family or someone known to her (L Heise, M Ellsberg, M Gottemoeller, 1999).
• 
  
  Up to 47% of women report that their first sexual intercourse was forced (WHO 2002).
• 
  
  Up to 70% of female murder victims are killed by their male partners (WHO 2002).
• 
  
  In Kenya more than one woman a week was reportedly killed by her male partner (Joni Seager, 2003).
• 
  
  In Zambia five women a week were murdered by a male partner or family member (Joni Seager 2003).
• 
  
  In Egypt 35% of women reported being beaten by their husband at some point in their marriage (UNICEF 2000).
• 
  
  In Bolivia 17% of all women aged 20 years and over have experienced physical violence in the previous 12 months (WHO 2002).
• 
  
  In Canada the costs of violence against the family amount to $1.6 billion per year, including medical care and lost productivity (UNICEF 2000).
• 
  
  In the USA a woman is battered, usually by her husband/partner, every 15 seconds (UN Study on the World’s Women, 2000).
• 
  
  In Bangladesh 50% of all murders are of women by their partners (Joni Seager, 2003).
• 
  
  In New Zealand 20% of women reported being hit or physically abused by a male partner (UNICEF 2000).
• 
  
  In Pakistan 42% of women accept violence as part of their fate; 33% feel too helpless to stand up to it; 19% protested and 4% took action against it (Government study in Punjab 2001).
• 
  
  In the Russian Federation 36,000 women are beaten on a daily basis by their husband or partner, according to Russian non-governmental organizations (OMCT 2003).
• 
  
  In Spain one woman every five days was killed by her male partner in 2000 (Joni Seager, The Atlas of Women).
• 
  
  About two women per week are killed by their partners in the United Kingdom (Joni Seager, 2003).