In October, Australia was forced to open its eyes to a national crisis when six women in just five days were murdered.
However, the horrifying statistics of violence against women didn’t stop at that one shameful week in October.
According to Counting Dead Women, in Australia 63 women have been murdered in 2018, 10 women died through violence in just one month, and every year anywhere between 50-70 women will be killed by someone they love.
It is Australia’s hidden epidemic, but a new United Nations report has concluded that the crisis reaches beyond our nation’s borders, with the report stating that the most dangerous place for any woman around the world, is in their own homes.
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released the “Global Study on Homicide: Gender-related Killing of Women and Girls” on Sunday, which analysed the violence perpetrated against women worldwide in 2017, and the results were shocking.
The report states that 87,000 women were killed worldwide, and of that number, 50,000 were murdered by partners of family members. Specifically, more than third of homicides (30,000) were at the hands of a current or former partner.
These statistics mean that around the world, six women are killed every hour by someone they know.
Violence against women seems to be unfolding in relative silence in Australia, a disturbing fact that was highlighted on The Project by Carrie Bickmore, “Australians are great in a crisis,” the host told the audience as she stared down the barrel of the camera, “Is it just that we’ve become so used to women dying through violence that we’ve run out of words?”
The question is a poignant one, and while we are in the grips of a horrifying and violent trend, so too are women around the world.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has called violence against women a “global pandemic” in a statement made following the release of the report.
The statement reads, “It is a moral affront to all women and girls, a mark of shame on all our societies and a major obstacle to inclusive, equitable and sustainable development. At its core, violence against women and girls is the manifestation of a profound lack of respect – a failure by men to recognize the inherent equality and dignity of women. It is an issue of fundamental human rights.”
Make no mistake, while violence in any form is reprehensible, the report highlights that women are far more likely to be killed from domestic violence than men. The statistics from the report show that of intimate partner homicide victims globally, 82% are women, and 18% are men.
Violence against women is the global crisis that’s in desperate need of our attention.
If you are impacted by assault, domestic or family violence call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.
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