Violence against women

Violence against women is a widespread and deeply rooted issue that affects individuals across all regions, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds. It takes many forms, including domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, honor killings, female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and online harassment. 

Domestic violence, one of the most common forms, occurs within intimate relationships and can involve physical abuse, emotional manipulation, financial control, and coercion. Many women trapped in abusive relationships face social and economic barriers that prevent them from leaving, such as financial dependence, fear of retaliation, lack of legal protection, or societal pressure to maintain family unity. Sexual violence, including rape and harassment, occurs in both private and public spaces, often leaving survivors with long-term psychological trauma, shame, and social stigmatization. 

In conflict zones, sexual violence is frequently used as a weapon of war, subjecting women to brutal and systematic abuse. Human trafficking disproportionately targets women and girls, forcing them into exploitative labor or sexual slavery under threats of violence and coercion. Harmful cultural practices like honor killings, where women are murdered by family members for perceived dishonor, and female genital mutilation, which causes lifelong physical and emotional damage, continue to persist despite global condemnation. 

In the digital age, technology has facilitated new forms of abuse, including cyberstalking, revenge pornography, and online threats, further limiting women’s ability to express themselves freely and safely. Many survivors of violence face significant challenges in seeking justice due to victim-blaming attitudes, weak law enforcement, and legal systems that fail to protect them. The impact of violence against women extends beyond individuals, affecting families, communities, and entire societies by reinforcing gender inequalities and limiting women’s participation in education, employment, and leadership. 

In much of the world, physical abuse of women is justified because any male-dominated culture tends to sanction it. 

Sexual violence has often been used as a deliberate tactic in conflicts and as part of broader systems of exploitation. In conflict zones like the Bosnian War, Pakistan, and Peru, rape was systematically employed to terrorize and destabilize communities, sometimes even through the establishment of facilities known as "rape camps." Beyond conflict-related abuses, women around the world face systemic exploitation: trafficked women in Thailand have been forced into prostitution through debt bondage, while invasive practices such as mandated virginity tests have been reported in Turkey. In parts of China, women have been subjected to forced sterilizations or abortions, and female genital mutilation continues in over twenty countries, particularly in Africa, due to entrenched cultural norms and insufficient legal protections. Additionally, state-sanctioned discrimination remains a serious issue in countries like Poland and Saudi Arabia, and there have been documented cases of physical and sexual abuse by law enforcement during interrogations in regions including Pakistan.

Recent national surveys in Chile indicate that roughly 1 in 4 women continues to experience physical violence in the home, while close to 1 in 3 report enduring psychological aggression from an intimate partner. On average, one American is sexually assaulted every 68 seconds. Additionally, about one in five women in the United States is expected to experience rape or attempted rape at some point in her lifetime. Current estimates suggest that 3 to 4 million women in the United States experience intimate partner violence each year, and nearly 3 out of 4 women are affected by violent crimes over their lifetimes. Additionally, more than one million women seek medical treatment annually for injuries related to domestic violence.

According to recent national surveys in Canada, about 1 in 4 women will experience assault at some point in their lives, with nearly half of these incidents occurring before the age of 18. In France studies suggest that a significant majority—often reported as around 90%—of the victims of domestic violence are women. Approximately half of these incidents involve intimate partners, including husbands.

Recent government data from Belgium indicate that approximately 1 in 3 women has experienced sexual violence in her lifetime, with incidents of physical violence being even more widespread. The data reveal that nearly all perpetrators of sexual violence are men, and about two-thirds of these offenders are individuals within the victim’s personal circle—such as family members, friends, or acquaintances. Additionally, the report shows that many survivors first encountered sexual violence during their adolescent years, with nearly 1 in 6 reporting that the abuse began at or before the age of 12. Moreover, around 40% of the cases involve repeated abuse rather than isolated incidents.

In societies where dowry practices persist, escalating dowry demands have been linked to severe forms of violence against women. In some South Asian contexts, these demands have led to tragic outcomes such as bride burning, drowning, or poisoning, with reports indicating that some women are driven to self-harm under the extreme pressure of these expectations. While physical abuse, including wife-beating, remains a significant concern, some human rights reports suggest that sexual violence in domestic settings may be even more widespread—though both forms of abuse are often underreported.