Violence Against Women

One out of every three women worldwide will be physically, sexually or otherwise abused during her lifetime with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries. This type of violence and abuse ranges from rape to domestic violence and acid burnings to dowry deaths and so-called honor killings. Violence against women and girls is an an extreme human rights violation, a public health epidemic and a barrier to solving global challenges such as extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS and conflict. It devastates the lives of millions of women and girls--- in peacetime and in conflict --- and knows no national or cultural barriers.

We know that violence against women is an atrocious human rights violation that must be stopped. What many people don't know however, is that violence against women is also a major cause of poverty and a huge barrier to economic opportunity - it keeps women from getting an education, working, and earning the income they need to lift their families out of poverty. In Nicaragua, for example, a study found that children of female victims of violence left school an average of four years earlier than other children. In India a survey revealed that women who experienced even a single incident of violence lost an average of seven working days.

annie O. works with women who are often victims of domestic violence and strive to end violence to escape violence and poverty.