Violence in Numbers

Women

According to the World Health Organization, globally as of 2021, 30% of women (1 in 3) have been subjected to:

  • Physical and/or sexual violence from any current or former husband or male intimate partner, or to;
  • Sexual violence from a non-partner, example, strangers, acquaintances, friends, peers, teachers, neighbors, family members, or to;
  • Both of these forms of violence combined at least once in their lifetime (i.e., since the age of 15)

Estimates from WHO’s 2018 analysis of prevalence data from 2000-2018 indicate:

  • 27% of women, (nearly one-third) in the 15-49 age group have been subjected to some form of physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner.
  • 42% of women who experience intimate partner violence report an injury as a consequence of this violence.
  • Global prevalence estimates show that 6% of women over the age of 15 have been subjected to non-partner sexual violence at least once in their lifetime.

Children

Data released in 2020 by WHO revealed that globally, an estimated 1 billion children aged 2-17 years experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence or neglect in the preceding year.

Men

As of 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated:

  • In the US, about 1 in 3 men experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime.
  • About 1 in 17 men were victims of stalking at some point in their lifetime.

Elderly

WHO published in 2019:

  • Around 1 in 6 people – 60 years and older experienced some form of abuse in community settings during the past year.
  • Elder abuse is predicted to increase as many countries are experiencing rapidly ageing populations.

Gender of victims

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in 2018:

  • For every 10 victims detected globally, about five were adult women and two were girls.
  • About one third of the overall detected victims were children, both girls (19%) and boys (15%).
  • 20% of detected victims were adult men.