A World Health Organization study published in The Lancet in October 2006 found that women face a greater threat of violence from their own partners than from any other source. Researchers surveyed more than 24,000 women between the ages of 15 and 49 across 10 countries, including Brazil, Ethiopia, Japan, Tanzania, and Peru.
At 13 of the 15 research sites, at least one in four women reported experiencing physical or sexual abuse, or both, at the hands of a husband, boyfriend, or live-in partner at some point in their lives. Only one site showed comparable risk from outside perpetrators.
Rates varied sharply by location. Women in Yokohama, Japan, reported the lowest prevalence, at 15 percent. The highest rate, 71 percent, was recorded in the rural Ethiopian district of Butajira. Violence in Ethiopia, rural Tanzania, Peru, and provincial Thailand was frequently severe, involving beatings, choking, weapons, or blunt objects.
The study also noted a strong overlap between physical and sexual abuse. At most sites, between 30 and 56 percent of women who reported any violence had experienced both forms. Lead author Claudia Garcia-Moreno of the WHO directed the research.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2006, in its own words.