The high rate of violence against women and girls is a serious global problem, according to a comprehensive analysis released by the United Nations and two private foundations to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on women's equality. The report, which compiled statistics and information from a variety of international agencies, shows that while women's lives have improved in many areas such as education and maternal health, violence against women "remains stubbornly high in countries rich and poor, at war and at peace." Even where countries enact legislation against pyhsical and sexual violence, the laws are often inadequate or poorly enforced and many women fear reporting violent incidents.
Compiled from: Sengupta, Somini, UN Reveals ‘Alarmingly High’ Levels of Violence against Women, The New York Times, (March 9, 2015); Sexual violence against women ‘a global epidemic,’ study finds, Al Jazeera, (March 9, 2015).