I suspect these numbers are exaggerated! It is only a metadata study!
What is usually rarely mentioned that other females are often involved as willing and often intentional accessories to this sexual violence.
Strangely enough, the WHO has focused only on male on female violence!
Did the WHO equate child marriage automatically with intimate partner violence? That would be dubious in some cases!
"Among adolescent girls who have been in a relationship, nearly a quarter (24%) – close to 19 million – will have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence by the time they turn 20 years old, as highlighted by a new analysis from the World Health Organization (WHO) published today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. Almost 1 in 6 (16%) experienced such violence in the past year. ..."
From the abstract
"Background
Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem and negatively affects short-term and long-term health, development, and wellbeing of adolescent girls. Global estimates from WHO have shown that adolescent girls aged 15–19 years experience high rates of intimate partner violence. We aimed to estimate the lifetime and past-year prevalence and patterns of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against adolescent girls by male partners across 161 countries and areas, and to examine the country-level factors, including the prevalence of child marriage, associated with the lifetime and past-year prevalence of intimate partner violence in this age group.
Methods
These analyses used the 2018 global, regional, and country estimates on intimate partner violence published by WHO and economic, social, and political metadata from subject-specific databases. Drawing on data from the WHO Global Database on Prevalence of Violence Against Women, we used hierarchical Bayesian modelling techniques to estimate lifetime and past-year prevalence of physical or sexual (or both) intimate partner violence against adolescent girls aged 15–19 years by country. Linear regression methods were used to examine contextual social, economic, and political factors associated with intimate partner violence against adolescent girls in the 101 countries (lifetime prevalence) and 105 countries (past-year prevalence) for which these metadata were available.
Findings
The estimated global prevalence of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against ever-partnered adolescent girls aged 15–19 years was 24% (95% uncertainty interval 21–28) in their lifetime and 16% (14–19) in the past year. Prevalence varied greatly across countries and regions, with lifetime prevalence ranging from 6% (3–11) in Georgia to 49% (35–64) in Papua New Guinea. Overall, the prevalence of both lifetime (154 countries) and past-year (157 countries) intimate partner violence against adolescent girls was higher in low-income and lower-middle-income countries and regions than in high-income countries and regions. Countries with higher rates of female secondary school enrollment and those with inheritance laws that are more gender-equal had lower prevalence of intimate partner violence against adolescent girls. Lower-income countries and societies with a high prevalence of child marriage had higher prevalence of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against adolescent girls.
Interpretation
Our findings highlight the widespread prevalence of intimate partner violence against adolescent girls across the globe and its relationship with country-level contextual factors. They emphasise the need for promoting and ensuring policies and programmes that increase and ensure gender equality. Countries should strive to provide secondary education for all girls, ensure equal property rights for women, eliminate discriminatory gender norms, and address harmful practices such as child marriage."
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