Gender-Based Violence

Gender-Based Violence: Stats and Facts

GBV manifests in multiple forms and contexts.

Affirming the right of women and girls to live a life free from violence is a vital and necessary step toward advancing CARE’s vision of a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and all people live in dignity and security.

GBV manifests in multiple forms and contexts

 

Intimate partner violence

Intimate partner violence is the most common form of GBV. This is deeply intertwined with Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR).

Child, early and forced marriage and other harmful traditional practices

Child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) and other harmful traditional practices are practiced in several parts of the world and, in times of conflict and economic stress, can become a coping strategy.

Emergencies and violence

In times of war and in humanitarian emergencies, women often face amplified risks in terms of violence.

Impacts of GBV

Across the globe, 60% of women face reproductive health issues related to GBV.

Reference: The role of data in addressing violence against women and girls.

Social norms and GBV

Despite two decades of policies and plans to eradicate GBV, its general rates continue to grow at varying rates.
Reference: Gender Based Violence and Reproductive Health of Indigenous Women in Mexico.

Violence targeting marginalized and criminalized groups

Certain groups of women and girls – indigenous women, women with disabilities, refugee women and women who identify as lesbian, bisexual or transgender – are particularly vulnerable to violence.

Reference: Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence.

Levers of Change

Evidence also points to levers of change

Links

WHO Violence Prevention Information System

A knowledge platform of research and findings on forms of interpersonal violence, the prevalence, risk factors, consequences and strategies for prevention.
2017 WHO