Updated data from the World Health Organization (WHO) reveal that violence against women and girls remains a widespread and persistent issue globally. Nearly one in three women and girls experience intimate partner or sexual violence during their lifetime, a figure that has remained largely unchanged since 2000. This enduring problem represents a major public health and human rights concern, with profound consequences for victims, including depression, injury, poor reproductive outcomes, and barriers to full societal participation.
In the WHO Western Pacific Region, over a quarter of women and girls report experiencing some form of intimate partner or sexual violence. Approximately 9.0% of women aged 15–49 experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in the past year, with country-level estimates ranging from 1.2% to 42.2%. Non-partner sexual violence affected 4.3% in the last 12 months and 9.4% over their lifetime. While the regional lifetime IPV prevalence is lower than the global average, certain Pacific island countries report rates as high as 50%, among the highest worldwide. WHO Regional Director Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala emphasized the urgent need for governments and communities to leverage data to drive policies, scale up prevention, and strengthen health system readiness.
Health system readiness plays a critical role in addressing gender-based violence. WHO’s survey on Health System Readiness to Respond to Interpersonal Violence highlights that although many countries are integrating violence prevention strategies into national plans, significant gaps remain. Essential services, including post-rape care, are unevenly available, with many regions lacking comprehensive coverage. Furthermore, data gaps hinder monitoring and accountability, as only about half of countries have conducted recent surveys on violence against women, and even fewer maintain usable homicide data. Dr Hiromasa Okayasu, WHO Regional Office Director, called for health sector leadership in providing survivor-centred services and promoting awareness among healthcare providers.
WHO urges countries to take concrete steps to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. Key recommendations include integrating gender-based violence policies across health and development sectors, providing comprehensive IPV and sexual violence services in national plans, expanding post-rape care access, strengthening health worker training and surveillance systems, and collecting regular, disaggregated data to inform policy. Dr Piukala stressed that translating data into action and accountability is essential to creating safer, healthier futures, where all women and girls are empowered, protected, and able to thrive.
