NEW YORK -- Gender violence, manifested essentially as violence against women -- although it is generally unrecognized and underreported -- is one of the most significant epidemics in the world today. That violence against women is considered normal behavior in many countries does not diminish its seriousness or its negative impact on the physical and mental health of women worldwide. Its persistence in many countries amid other obvious social measures of progress indicates the need to confront it with urgent and effective policies.
Domestic violence, violence that occurs in the home or within the family, is perhaps the most common kind of gender violence and affects women regardless of age, education or socioeconomic status. Although it is widespread, there are few precise figures of the extent of this phenomenon.
In every country where reliable studies have been conducted, statistics show that between 10 and 50 percent of the women studied report that they had been physically abused by an intimate partner during their lifetime.