One in three women around the world have experienced partner or sexual violence, a new United Nations report has warned.

And the risk of sexual violence is amplified in humanitarian settings and emergencies, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) ‘Violence Against Women Prevalence Estimates’ report says.

The prevalence of partner violence is triple the global average in climate-vulnerable and conflict-affected areas, it says.

And technology is exacerbating the situation through doxxing, revenge porn, or cyberstalking using phone app location data.

The report’s data paints a picture of a crisis that is neglected and underfunded.

An estimated 840 million women globally have experienced partner or sexual violence during their lifetime, a figure that has barely changed since 2000.

In the last 12 months alone, 316 million women, or 11 per cent of those aged 15 or older, were subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner.

Progress on reducing intimate partner violence has been painfully slow with only 0.2 per cent annual decline over the past two decades.

For the first time, the report includes national and regional estimates of sexual violence by someone other than a partner. It finds 263 million women have experienced non-partner sexual violence since age 15, a figure experts caution is significantly under-reported due to stigma and fear.

“Violence against women is one of humanity’s oldest and most pervasive injustices, yet still one of the least acted upon,” WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“No society can call itself fair, safe or healthy while half its population lives in fear. Ending this violence is not only a matter of policy; it is a matter of dignity, equality and human rights. Behind every statistic is a woman or girl whose life has been forever altered.

“Empowering women and girls is not optional, it’s a prerequisite for peace, development and health. A safer world for women is a better world for everyone,” he said.

Despite mounting evidence on effective strategies to prevent violence against women, the report warns that humanitarian funding for such initiatives is collapsing.

It says that in 2022, just 0.2 per cent of the global development aid was allocated to programs focused on prevention of violence against women, and funding has further fallen in 2025.

Women subjected to violence face unintended pregnancies, a higher risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections and experiencing depression the report says.

Sexual and reproductive health services are an important entry point for survivors to receive the high-quality care they need.

The report says that violence against women begins early, and risks persist throughout life.

“For example, in the past 12 months alone, 12.5 million adolescent girls 15-19 years of age or 16 per cent have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner,” the report says.

“While violence occurs in every country, women in least-developed, conflict-affected, and climate-vulnerable settings are disproportionately affected. For example, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) reports 38 per cent prevalence of intimate partner violence in the past year – more than 3 times the global average of 11 per cent,” it says.

Read the full report: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240116962