Overview
- The report estimates roughly 840 million women worldwide have experienced intimate-partner or sexual violence in their lifetimes, with global prevalence barely changing since the early 2000s given a ~0.2% annual decline.
- In the past year, about 316 million women who have had a partner—around 11%—suffered physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner.
- For the first time, WHO provides national and regional estimates of non-partner sexual violence, finding 263 million affected, while cautioning that stigma and underreporting likely depress the figures.
- Violence often begins early, with 12.5 million girls aged 15–19—16%—experiencing physical and/or sexual partner violence in the last year.
- Prevalence varies sharply by region, including 38% last-year partner violence in Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand and rates above 31% in India and sub-Saharan Africa, as only 0.2% of 2022 global development aid targeted prevention programs.