19 million girls face intimate partner violence before 20 – WHO

Sodiq Ojuroungbe

A new report by the World Health Organisation on Tuesday  said that close to 19 million teenage girls will have experienced physical and sexual intimate partner violence by the time they turn 20 years old.

The report published in ‘The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health’, revealed that nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of adolescent girls who have been in relationships would experience physical and sexual violence by age 20.

The study, titled “Intimate Partner Violence Against Adolescent Girls: Regional and National Prevalence Estimates and Associated Country-Level Factors,” used data from WHO’s Global Database on Prevalence of Violence Against Women.

It employs Bayesian hierarchical modelling to generate comparable international estimates.

Funding for the study was provided by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office through the WHO-UN Women Joint Programme and the United Nations Special Programme of Research, Development, and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP).

The study while highlighting the significant regional disparities in the prevalence of intimate partner violence, lamented that 16 per cent of these girls faced such violence in the past year alone.

According to the WHO report, Oceania and central sub-Saharan Africa are the most affected, with rates of 47 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively. In contrast, central Europe and central Asia report the lowest rates, at 10 per cent and 11 per cent. Within countries, the prevalence ranges from as low as 6 per cent to as high as 49 per cent.

The report linked high violence rates to factors such as lower income, limited access to secondary education, weaker legal rights for women, and high rates of child marriage.

Child marriage, which often results in power imbalances and economic dependency, significantly heightens the risk of violence.

The study underscored the urgency of meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal targets, which aim to eliminate violence against women and girls. Currently, no country is on track to meet this goal.

To combat this issue, the study calls for enhanced support services and early prevention measures specifically designed for adolescents.

Recommendations include school-based programs to educate boys and girls on healthy relationships, stronger legal protections, and efforts to improve economic empowerment for young women.

Reacting, the Director of WHO’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research Department, Dr. Pascale Allotey, emphasised the urgency of addressing this issue.

“Intimate partner violence is starting alarmingly early for millions of young women around the world.

“Given that violence during these critical formative years can cause profound and lasting harms, it needs to be taken more seriously as a public health issue – with a focus on prevention and targeted support,” Allotey said.

Similarly, the Technical Officer for Violence Against Women Data and Measurement at WHO, Dr Lynnmarie Sardinha, stressed the need for comprehensive policies to address gender inequality.

“Countries need to have policies and programmes in place that increase equality for women and girls.

“This means ensuring secondary education for all girls, securing gender-equal property rights, and ending harmful practices such as child marriage,” Sardinha said.

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