30% Women Suffer From Sexual or Intimate Partner Violence, Says WHO

While we face the men out there blaming women for celebrating women's day and calling out names to imperfect feminists, the fact of the current condition of the misconduct against women discovers itself. Doesn't take a feminist to reveal facts now, do we? Facing the reality, that most women face violence from a huge amount of men becomes the unhidden truth.

A major public health problem and a violation of women's human rights is the violence faced by women from their sexual and intimate partners. A report by WHO states that every one woman out of three, face violence either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime at least once. WHO further specifies that these women are mostly abused in the group from 16 to 49 years of age. As everyone is well aware that violence is not the solution to anything and it does only and only harm to the victim, these women face women’s physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health, and may increase the risk of acquiring HIV in some settings.

Further WHO listed the following risk factors for both intimate partner and sexual violence include:

• lower levels of education (perpetration of sexual violence and experience of sexual violence);
• a history of exposure to child maltreatment (perpetration and experience);
• witnessing family violence (perpetration and experience);
• antisocial personality disorder (perpetration);
• harmful use of alcohol (perpetration and experience);
• harmful masculine behaviours, including having multiple partners or attitudes that condone violence
• (perpetration);
• community norms that privilege or ascribe higher status to men and lower status to women;
• low levels of women’s access to paid employment; and
• low level of gender equality (discriminatory laws, etc.).

And listing the health consequences on the woman's mental and physical health WHO writes :

• Have fatal outcomes like homicide or suicide.
• Sexual violence, particularly during childhood, can lead to increased smoking, substance use, and risky sexual behaviours. It is also associated with the perpetration of violence (for males) and being a victim of violence (for females).
• These forms of violence can lead to depression, post-traumatic stress and other anxiety disorders, sleep difficulties, eating disorders, and suicide attempts. The 2013 analysis found that women who have experienced intimate partner violence were almost twice as likely to experience depression and problem drinking.

30% Women Suffer From Sexual or Intimate Partner Violence, Says WHO

If you are a victim of violence then remember this,

YOU DESERVE BETTER. Find a way to get out of this treatment. No matter what you have done so far, no matter how you look, nobody has the right to abuse you mentally or physically. DO not give that right to anyone. You are doing the best you can. And nope, self-love is not selfish. Step up, girl. Leave behind the toxicity that made you sick. You can only grow in a cleaner environment,

So if there are people who'd go #NotAllMen, being respectful is the bare minimum. Wake up and smell the coffee, the world is not about fighting against each other but supporting one another. Demoralising anyone's spirits is not going to get anyone anywhere. Hence beware of playing the villain you hate in the stories. And even if you are a woman or a man, restrain from tolerating any kind of violence and step up. Remember the victim is at fault if he/she tolerates.  Be it for yourself or others, stand against violence.