Last update: January 2008

Protect children from all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence

Domestic violence is the most common form of violence against women

It affects women’s well-being and the health, nutrition and education of both children who experience it and children who witness it.

In the context of gender inequality, women’s response to abuse reflects their relatively fewer options to change or leave the relationship and their assessment of how best to protect themselves and their children. Household surveys in 57 countries were conducted to determine attitudes towards domestic violence. When asked their opinions, on average, half of girls and women aged 15–49 responded that a husband or partner is justified in beating his wife under certain circumstances.

Agreement with wife-beating varies significantly by level of education. Less educated women are more likely to feel that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife. Similarly to education, wealth quintile and area of residence appears to influence significantly women’s agreement with wife-beating. Overall, women from rural areas are women belonging to the poorest quintile of the wealth distribution are more likely to justify wife-beating than women from urban areas and women of the richest households.

Ending domestic violence requires changing attitudes that permit such abuse, developing legal and policy frameworks to prohibit and reject it, and improving women’s access to economic resources and girls’ access to education.

Source for figures: UNICEF global databases, 2007, based on latest available estimates from MICS, DHS and other national surveys in 57 countries for 1999–2006. In Egypt, Somalia and Turkmenistan, only women who are or were ever married were surveyed; in Tajikistan, only women who are married or in union were surveyed. Breakdown by age group is based on survey data in 55 countries. Women’s response to abuse: WHO, World Report on Violence and Health, 2002.