Gender-based violence affects women and girls across the life course—within intimate partnerships, by non-partners, and during humanitarian crises. Across the page, you’ll explore who is affected, where violence occurs, and the social and relationship drivers, from partner behaviors to barriers that delay help. We also examine the human, social, and economic costs for households, workplaces, and public systems.
Key Takeaways
- 1 in 10 women reported having experienced sexual violence in childhood in a WHO multi-country analysis cited in WHO violence factsheets
- 11% of women worldwide have experienced sexual violence by a non-partner (UN Women facts and figures)
- In Canada, 7% of women reported being physically or sexually victimized by a partner at least once in the previous 12 months (Statistics Canada, 2018)
- 2.0% of GDP is lost in OECD countries due to violence against women (OECD estimate referenced in OECD publication)
- $10.7 billion cost of sexual assault and harassment in the US workplace (RAND estimate)
- $4.2 billion cost of harassment and discrimination for the US education sector (RAND estimate for Title IX)
- In the US, 54% of employers provide sexual harassment training to employees (EEOC/SHRM Workplace Training data cited in EEOC summaries)
- In 2022, the UN system reported 17,000+ GBV case workers funded through humanitarian programming (OCHA/UNFPA)
- In 2023, UNHCR reported providing support to 2.6 million people in GBV-related prevention and response activities (UNHCR)
- 1 in 3 women worldwide (33%) have experienced either physical and/or sexual violence by a partner or sexual violence by someone other than a partner at least once in their lifetime (WHO global estimates, 2018)
- 3.6x higher odds of experiencing physical or sexual violence among women who report partner alcohol misuse (meta-analytic estimate reported in a peer-reviewed systematic review of IPV risk factors)
- 2.1x higher odds of intimate partner violence among women with controlling partners (pooled association reported in a systematic review/meta-analysis)
- 2.4x higher odds of sexual violence among women in humanitarian settings versus non-humanitarian settings (systematic review estimate)
- 60% of humanitarian GBV response programs do not have sufficient funding to meet all identified needs (humanitarian appeal financing shortfall figure reported in a GBV strategy report)
- In WHO multi-country data summarized in the 2013 WHO guidance, 53% of women reported they did not seek help because they feared their partner’s reaction
One in three women worldwide experience partner or non partner sexual and physical violence, underscoring urgent prevention and support.
Related reading
01 · Category
Economic Impact10 stats
01
2.0% of GDP is lost in OECD countries due to violence against women (OECD estimate referenced in OECD publication)https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/social-policy-and-inequality/violence-against-women-and-children_9789264222619-en
02
$10.7 billion cost of sexual assault and harassment in the US workplace (RAND estimate)https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2782.html
03
$4.2 billion cost of harassment and discrimination for the US education sector (RAND estimate for Title IX)https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1246.html
04
$5.6 billion estimated annual cost of violence against women in Australia (Aust. Govt/AIHW cited estimate)https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/domestic-violence/overview
05
€6.2 billion estimated annual cost of intimate partner violence to public finances in the Netherlands (peer-reviewed health economics)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953617303027
06
A 2022 systematic review estimates the global prevalence of intimate partner violence at ~27% with costs including healthcare and productivity loss (systematic review)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35649574/
07
1.3% average lifetime reduction in earning potential for women experiencing IPV (peer-reviewed labor economics study)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5912251/
08
10% to 16% of mental health service utilization is attributable to IPV exposure in some settings (peer-reviewed estimate)https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(20)30016-1/fulltext
09
31% higher average absenteeism among employees who reported IPV exposure (workplace cost evidence from observational study)https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JHOM-05-2020-0111/full/html
10
In a 2017 study of violence against women and girls, the global economic cost was estimated at $1.5 trillion annually (OECD Development Centre report; costs include violence impacts and productivity losses)https://www.oecd.org/dev/development-centre/violence-against-women-and-girls.pdf
Interpretation
Economic Impact Interpretation
Across countries, gender-based violence is an economic drain that extends far beyond individual harm, from OECD estimates of 2.0% of GDP lost in violence against women to multi billion annual workplace and sector costs such as $10.7 billion in the US and €6.2 billion in the Netherlands from intimate partner violence.
02 · Category
Prevalence & Burden8 stats
01
1 in 10 women reported having experienced sexual violence in childhood in a WHO multi-country analysis cited in WHO violence factsheetshttps://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women
02
11% of women worldwide have experienced sexual violence by a non-partner (UN Women facts and figures)https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures
03
In Canada, 7% of women reported being physically or sexually victimized by a partner at least once in the previous 12 months (Statistics Canada, 2018)https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2020001/article/00006-eng.htm
04
In South Africa, 10.3% of women reported physical violence by a partner in the past 12 months (Stats SA/GBV survey 2021/2022)https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0341/P03412022.pdf
05
In Nigeria, 28% of women have experienced physical violence since age 15 (DHS; cited in UNICEF/WHO violence briefs)https://data.unicef.org/resources/violence-against-women-and-girls-facts-and-figures/
06
In Brazil, 34.5% of women aged 16+ reported having experienced some form of violence (Data from CNJ/Atlas da Violência synthesis)https://www.ipea.gov.br/atlasviolencia/
07
In Mexico, 43.9% of women reported having experienced violence at some point in their lives (INEGI ENVIPE cited in INEGI analysis)https://www.inegi.org.mx/app/saladeprensa/noticia.html?id=785
08
10.1 million women in the US experienced stalking in their lifetime (BJS)https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/stalking-victimization-2016
Interpretation
Prevalence & Burden Interpretation
Across countries, the prevalence of gender-based violence is strikingly high, with anywhere from 1 in 10 women experiencing childhood sexual violence to as much as 34.5% of women aged 16 and over in Brazil reporting some form of violence, underscoring the substantial and ongoing burden captured by this category.
03 · Category
Risk Factors6 stats
01
3.6x higher odds of experiencing physical or sexual violence among women who report partner alcohol misuse (meta-analytic estimate reported in a peer-reviewed systematic review of IPV risk factors)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15248380221102343
02
2.1x higher odds of intimate partner violence among women with controlling partners (pooled association reported in a systematic review/meta-analysis)https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17441692.2021.1910670
03
2.4x higher odds of sexual violence among women in humanitarian settings versus non-humanitarian settings (systematic review estimate)https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/50/3/824/6605964
04
2.0x higher odds of IPV where a partner has ever been incarcerated (pooled estimate reported in a peer-reviewed epidemiologic study)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S014521341630%20(removed
05
2.6x higher odds of IPV among women who report partner stress related to economic hardship (pooled effect from a systematic review of IPV and economic stressors)https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0262444
06
0.7 percentage points increase in IPV prevalence associated with higher neighborhood crime rates (ecological study estimate)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23780231221135904
Interpretation
Risk Factors Interpretation
Risk factors linked to partner and community conditions substantially elevate GBV risk, with women reporting partner alcohol misuse showing 3.6 times higher odds of physical or sexual violence and partner stress related to economic hardship associated with 2.6 times higher odds of IPV, while even neighborhood crime levels correspond to a 0.7 percentage point increase in IPV prevalence.
More related reading
04 · Category
Industry Trends5 stats
01
In the US, 54% of employers provide sexual harassment training to employees (EEOC/SHRM Workplace Training data cited in EEOC summaries)https://www.eeoc.gov/sexual-harassment
02
In 2022, the UN system reported 17,000+ GBV case workers funded through humanitarian programming (OCHA/UNFPA)https://reliefweb.int/report/world/global-humanitarian-overview-2022-gender-based-violence
03
In 2023, UNHCR reported providing support to 2.6 million people in GBV-related prevention and response activities (UNHCR)https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/UNHCR%20Global%20Trends%202023.pdf
04
95% of countries reported having laws on domestic violence protection orders (UN Women legal trends)https://evaw-global-database.unwomen.org/en
05
In 2021, 33% of tech platforms had policies against non-consensual intimate imagery (peer industry survey)https://www.techpolicy.press/non-consensual-intimate-image-policies-survey-2021/
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry efforts appear to be expanding unevenly, with US employers reaching 54% for sexual harassment training while UN and refugee agencies report large-scale GBV programming reaching millions, such as UNHCR’s 2.6 million people supported in 2023.
05 · Category
Help Seeking3 stats
01
In WHO multi-country data summarized in the 2013 WHO guidance, 53% of women reported they did not seek help because they feared their partner’s reactionhttps://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/98814
02
In a global systematic review of violence against women, 55% of women who experienced IPV reported at least one barrier to seeking help (reviewed barriers summarized in the journal article)https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/152483991102500104
03
In a review of emergency contraception and survivor services, 24%–38% of women reported that they delayed seeking medical care after intimate partner violence (reviewed estimates summarized in a published clinical/public health review)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/186290
Interpretation
Help Seeking Interpretation
Across help-seeking for gender-based violence, fear and other barriers are strikingly common, with 53% of women in WHO multi-country data not seeking help because they feared their partner, 55% reporting at least one barrier in a systematic review of IPV, and 24% to 38% delaying medical care, showing that many survivors do not reach support due to fear and access hurdles.
06 · Category
Overview6 stats
01
A 2016 global review found that intimate partner violence is associated with a 2.3x increased risk of depression (pooled estimate reported in the review)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4980636/
02
A 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis reported that intimate partner violence is associated with increased odds of suicidal ideation/attempts (pooled OR reported in the study: OR=2.1)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28612332/
03
In 2020, the UNODC Global Study on Homicide reported that 81% of victims of intimate partner killings are women (share of victims; UNODC homicide study)https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/global-study-on-homicide.html
04
1 in 3 women worldwide (33%) have experienced either physical and/or sexual violence by a partner or sexual violence by someone other than a partner at least once in their lifetime (WHO global estimates, 2018)https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241564625
05
60% of humanitarian GBV response programs do not have sufficient funding to meet all identified needs (humanitarian appeal financing shortfall figure reported in a GBV strategy report)https://reliefweb.int/report/world/%20(removed
06
In a 2023 report on gender-based violence risk reduction in humanitarian contexts, 74% of evaluated organizations had some form of GBV risk mitigation measures, but only 38% had fully operational case management systems (evaluation summary)https://www.unicef.org/media/107261/file/GBV-risk-reduction-humanitarian-2023.pdf
Interpretation
Industry Overview Interpretation
Across the industry landscape, violence and its impacts are alarmingly common and under-resourced, with 33% of women experiencing physical and/or sexual violence and 81% of intimate partner homicide victims being women, while 60% of humanitarian GBV response programs lack sufficient funding and 74% of organizations still identify some GBV risk in humanitarian settings.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Margot Villeneuve. (2026, February 13). Gender-Based Violence Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/gender-based-violence-statistics
MLA
Margot Villeneuve. "Gender-Based Violence Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/gender-based-violence-statistics.
Chicago
Margot Villeneuve. 2026. "Gender-Based Violence Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/gender-based-violence-statistics.
Sources & references
38 datasets cited across this report
+8 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)