- More than five women or girls are killed every hour by someone in their own family.
- Almost one in three women have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence at least once in their life.
- 86% of women and girls live in countries without legal protections against gender-based violence.
Source: More data from UN Women
The availability of data on violence against women and girls has improved considerably in recent years and data on the prevalence of intimate partner violence is now available for at least 161 countries. Please visit our research and data page to better understand how data is crucial to UN Women’s work on preventing and responding to violence against women and girls.
Violence against women and girls remains one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations in the world. Globally, an estimated 736 million women — almost one in three — have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both, at least once in their life.
This scourge has intensified in different settings, including the workplace and online spaces, and has been exacerbated by post-pandemic effects, conflicts, and climate change.
The solution lies in robust responses, including investment in prevention. However, alarmingly, data on how much nations are committing to counteract violence against women and girls remains glaringly sparse.
For instance, just 5% of government aid is focused on tackling violence against women and girls, and less than 0.2% is directed to its prevention.
We need more investment in women’s organizations, better legislation, prosecution of perpetrators, more services for survivors, and training for law enforcement officials.