WHAT DOES VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN LOOK LIKE?

16 FACTS FOR 16 DAYS

• In Somalia, around 95% of girls will be genitally mutilated by the time they are 8 years old.
• 33% of all children present at domestic violence incidents are injured trying to protect their mother.
• In the United Kingdom, since 1981 the largest increase in violence crimes has been in incidents of domestic violence.
• In Papua New Guinea, 67% of rural women and 56% of urban women have been physically abused.
• Of the 15 million baby girls born in India each year, nearly 25 percent will not live to see their 15^th birthday.  In most Indian families a daughter is viewed as a liability and she is conditioned to believe that she is inferior and subordinate to men.  India now has 930,000 missing girls every year.
• 1 Russian woman is killed by her husband every 40 minutes.
• In South Africa a women is raped every 17 seconds.
• A quarter of all women killed in Jordan for having an illicit relationship die merely because they were suspected of involvement in such a relationship.  In Jordan and Lebanon 70 – 75% of the perpetrators of these so called Honour Killings are the women’s brothers.
• A random sample of 150 women in Trondheim, Norway found that 25% had been physically or sexually abused by their male partners.
• In a maternity hospital in Peru, 90% of mothers aged 12-16 had been raped by their fathers, stepfathers or close male relative.
• In the United States 82,000 rapes are reported to the FBI, 75% of female rape victims require medical care after the attack.
• 1 in 4 children will experience violence between those caring for them.  The Department of health estimates that 750,000 children are directly affected by domestic violence each year.
• 30% of women in the UK have been abused by their partners or ex partners.  On average, 2 women a week are killed by a current or former partner.
• Each year about 2 million girls between the ages of 5 and 15 are trafficked, sold or coerced into prostitution.
• In 2002, 6822 women were murdered in India due to dowry demands not being met.
• In the first half of 2007 nearly 250 women were killed by violent husbands or family members in Egypt and on average 2 women were raped every hour.

Over 2000 organisations in approximately 154 countries have participated in the 16 days campaign since 1991.

General

• Almost half (44%) of all incidents reported by women to the British Crime Survey were domestic violence incidents. (British Crime Survey 1996, Home Office).
• Since 1981, the largest increase in violent crimes has been in incidents of domestic violence (British Crime Survey 1996, Home Office).
• A number of local surveys in the UK show between 1 in 3 and 1 in 4 women report having suffered domestic violence at some time in their adult lives. ).
• Similar findings are reported from research overseas. For example the largest recent survey of violence against women involved a telephone survey of over 11,000 women in Canada. One in three reported violence from their partners (Statistics Canada (1996) Survey on Violence Against Women in Canada).
• A survey of 1000 women in city centres in North England found that 1 in 8 women reported having been raped by their husbands or partners (Painter, K. (1991) Wife Rape and The Law Survey Report: Key Findings And Recommendations, Department of Social Policy & Social Work, University of Manchester).
• Each year, 45% of female homicide victims are killed by present or former male partners compared to 8% of male victims. On average, 2 women per week are killed in England and Wales by their partners/ex-partners (Criminal Statistics (1992) Home Office)
• 60% of 127 women resident in refuges in Northern Ireland experienced violence during pregnancy. 13% lost their babies as a result (Monica McWilliams & Joan McKiernan (1993) Bringing it out into the open, Belfast HMSO).
• Domestic violence often continues and may escalate in severity after separation. As many as one-third of women who leave refuges experience continued abuse and harassment from their ex-partners (Binney, Harkell & Nixon, (1988) Leaving Violent Men, Bristol: WAFE).
• Women are at greatest risk of homicide at the point of separation or after leaving a violent partner (Daly & Wilson (1988) Homicide, Aldane Gruyter).
• Domestic violence is the least likely violent crime to be reported to the police. Only one out of three crimes resulting in injury are reported (British Crime Survey, 1996).
• Women who suffer domestic violence are likely to under report incidents of abuse. In a study of 484 women's experiences of violence in Surrey, 2 out of 3 women who defined themselves as victims of domestic violence said they had not told family, friends or agencies about the abuse. (Dominy & Radford (1996) Domestic Violence in Surrey, Surrey Social Services/ Roehampton Institute).Domestic violence has a major impact upon the health and welfare of women and children world-wide. The 1995 World Development Report by the United Nations shows, that on a world scale, it is a significant cause of disability and death (Social Services Inspectorate (1996) Domestic Violence and Social Care).
• On average a women is assaulted 35 times before seeking help from outside agencies.
• There are 530,000 assaults on women by men in the home each year.
• 5% of health years of life are lost world-wide by women because of domestic violence (Social Services Inspectorate, 1996). 
• Domestic violence is a factor in 1 in 4 suicide attempts by women (Stark, E. Flitcraft, A. & Frazier, W. (1979) Medicine And Patriarchal Violence: The Social Construction of A 'Private' Event, International Journal of Health Services, 9 (3) pp. 461-93).
   

Children & Domestic Violence

• In 90% of cases of domestic violence children are in the same room or the next room.(Hughes 1998)
• 66% of residents in emergency refuges are children.(Women's Aid)
• In 40% - 60% of cases of domestic violence child abuse is also occurring ( Stark & Flitcraft 1998)
• The NCH study found 75% of mothers said their children had witnessed domestic violence, 33% had seen their mothers beaten up, 10% had witnessed sexual violence (NCH, 1994).
• Children's responses to witnessing domestic violence vary according to a multitude of factors, including age, race, class, sex, stage of development, role in the family, relationship with parent(s), and the availability of sources of support outside the immediate family situation (Saunders, 1995).
• Children of all ages most often take some form of passive or active support to protect their mothers when witnessing domestic violence (Hester & Radford, 1996). 
•  In 06/07 over 900 children stayed in Women’s Aid refuges.
• An estimated 32,000 children are living with domestic violence in Northern Ireland.
• The PSNI statistics for 07/08 show 562 recorded crimes with a domestic motivation on children under 17.