Family Violence Archives

Violence Against Women: Facts and figures

Violence against women is now recognised to be a serious and widespread problem in Australia. It has enormous individual and community impacts and social costs.

What we must remember is that violence against women, a significant social problem is also ultimately preventable.

My regular readers will know I an open activist for the prevention of violence against women.

I follow Our watch and often share posts from their sites.

Have you checked it out?

As well as personal experience of violence as a woman. I also see DAILY in my work as a Midwife the consequences and flow on effects of violence against women. Yes……. DAILY.

To prevent violence against women we first need to understand it. This list of key facts is cut and paste directly from the Our Watch website.

KEY FACTS about Violence Against Women

The following basic statistics help demonstrate the prevalence and severity of violence against women:

On average, at least one woman a week is killed by a partner or former partner in Australia.
One in three Australian women has experienced physical violence, since the age of 15.
One in five Australian women has experienced sexual violence.
One in four Australian women has experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner.
One in four Australian women has experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner.
Women are at least three times more likely than men to experience violence from an intimate partner.
Women are five times more likely than men to require medical attention or hospitalisation as a result of intimate partner violence, and five times more likely to report fearing for their lives.
Of those women who experience violence, more than half have children in their care.
Violence against women is not limited to the home or intimate relationships. Every year in Australia, over 300,000 women experience violence – often sexual violence – from someone other than a partner.
Eight out of ten women aged 18 to 24 were harassed on the street in the past year.
Young women (18 – 24 years) experience significantly higher rates of physical and sexual violence than women in older age groups.
There is growing evidence that women with disabilities are more likely to experience violence.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience violence at higher rates than non-Indigenous women.