Teenage girls face ‘alarming’ rates of intimate partner violence, WHO warns

An alarming number of teenage girls will experience physical and/or sexual violence in their intimate relationships, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned in a new study published on Tuesday (30 July).

Almost a quarter of adolescent girls (24%) will experience physical and/or sexual violence in their intimate relationships before they are twenty, reveals the WHO’s study in the published scientific journal The Lancet.

“Intimate partner violence is starting alarmingly early for millions of young women around the world”, Dr Pascale Allotey, director of WHO’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research department, said in a press release.  

In total, almost 19 million teenage girls are affected, although prevalence rates differ from one region of the world to another. The regions most affected are Oceania (47%) and Central Sub-Saharan Africa (40%), while the lowest rates are found in Central Europe (10%) and Central Asia (11%).

The gap between countries is equally wide: An estimated 6% of teenage girls are victims of this type of violence in the least-affected countries, compared to 49% in the countries with the highest rates.

The WHO study also notes differences linked to socio-economic background: Violence is more prevalent in low-income countries and regions, and where girls have less schooling.

On the other hand, high-income countries with quite a strong economy show lower cases of intimate partner violence among teenagers. For example, 15 European countries had a prevalence in the lowest median range of 0–4%, according to WHO’s data.

“Since many adolescents lack financial resources of their own, they may face particular difficulties when it comes to leaving an abusive relationship,” the report states.

Child marriage (before the age of 18), which affects 1 in 5 girls globally, also significantly increases the risk of violence, as “the age difference between spouses creates power imbalances, economic dependence and social isolation”, said the WHO.

“Devastating” effect on victims

Physical and/or sexual violence can have a “devastating” effect on  adolescent girls’ school performance, their future relationships, their prospects, and their health, warned the UN health agency.

“Given that violence during these critical formative years can cause profound and lasting harms, it needs to be taken more seriously as a public health issue,” Allotey pointed out. 

Sexual and physical violence increases the risk of injury, depression, anxiety disorders, unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and many more.

To end gender-based violence, the study recommends that governments put in place policies and programmes to promote equality for women and girls.

“This means ensuring secondary education for all girls, securing gender-equal property rights and ending harmful practices such as child marriage, which are often underpinned by the same inequitable gender norms that perpetuate violence against women and girls”, said Dr Lynnmarie Sardinha, the study’s author. 

In May, the European Union adopted its first directive to combat violence against women, which included prevention programmes.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic] 

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