Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Figuring violence, multi-country study on domestic violence
Other Titles:	Domestic Violence & Incest Resource Centre Newsletter
Authors:	Unknown
Keywords:	Cross-cultural;Health;Sexual assault
Year:	2006
Publisher:	Domestic Violence & Incest Resource Centre
Citation:	(1), Autumn 2006
Notes:	This article summarises the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s research which interviewed and collected data from over 24,000 women in 10 countries. The WHO project documented how widespread violence against women by partners is and how it is the most common form of violence in women’s lives, with impact on physical, mental and sexual health. The WHO study also looked at non-partner violence and childhood sexual abuse. The countries in the study included Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Japan, Peru, Namibia, Samoa, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand and the United Republic of Tanzania. A cross-sectional, population-based household survey was used. It found that women in Japan were the least likely to report, with the greatest amount of violence reported by women in provincial or rural Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Peru and the United Republic of Tanzania. Younger women were at higher risk of violence from a partner within the past 12 months. Higher education was found to be associated with less violence. Women were asked about their beliefs on whether violence could ever be justified, and whether a woman could refuse sex with her partner. In urban Brazil, Japan, Namibia and Serbia and Montenegro, over three-quarters of the sample said there was no justification for violence but only a quarter of women in rural Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Peru and Samoa said the same. Women in abusive relationships were more likely to report that their partner had multiple sexual partners and had refused to use a condom and this may contribute to an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections and HIV. The interviewer was often the first person that women had ever told about the abuse. Between 55% and 95% of women had never told services about the abuse. The WHO made a range of recommendations for policy and law reform, including programmes for prevention of HIV/AIDS, and that reproductive health services (antenatal care and sexual health services) be used as entry points for identifying and supporting women in abusive relationships.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/14843
ISSN:	1324-4264
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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