INTRODUCTION

According to the United Nations, one in three women have experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. This is a violation of human rights that affects both women and girls, causing devastating consequences in their lives, as well as immense suffering. Therefore, in order to understand and be aware of the number of women and girls who have been victims of physical and/or sexual violence, we have specifically chosen SDG 5.2.1 “Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age”. In this way, and following the comparative analysis between countries, data can be obtained to facilitate the prevalence of gender-based violence and thus encourage the design of policies and the establishment of effective interventions that will achieve a safe and equitable future for all. Sustainable development therefore depends on actions taken to ensure gender equality by reducing violence against women and girls.

DATA MANIPULATION

We have chosen the data corresponding to SDG 5.2.1 “Proportion of women and girls aged 15 and over who have experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the last 12 months, by form of violence and by age”, “VC_VAW_MARR”. The variables used therefore are: “GeoAreaName” which is divided into continents and then their regions, “TimePeriod” being 2018 throughout the whole analysis, “Age” both 15+ and between 15-49. In other words, throughout this paper, we will carry out a comparative analysis between the different continents of the world and their regions, as well as a comparison between the countries with the highest and lowest proportion of gender-based violence in the world, specifically in 2018 among women aged 15 years and older and 15-49 years.

GeoAreaName

TimePeriod

Value

Age

Sex

Northern Africa

2,018

12.1

15+

FEMALE

Northern Africa

2,018

14.7

15-49

FEMALE

Central African Republic

2,018

18.1

15+

FEMALE

Central African Republic

2,018

20.9

15-49

FEMALE

Sub-Saharan Africa

2,018

20.4

15-49

FEMALE

Sub-Saharan Africa

2,018

18.2

15+

FEMALE

South Africa

2,018

13.1

15-49

FEMALE

South Africa

2,018

11.0

15+

FEMALE

GeoAreaName

TimePeriod

Value

Age

Sex

Southern Europe

2,018

2.7

15+

FEMALE

Southern Europe

2,018

3.7

15-49

FEMALE

Eastern Europe

2,018

6.7

15-49

FEMALE

Eastern Europe

2,018

5.6

15+

FEMALE

Northern Europe

2,018

4.7

15-49

FEMALE

Northern Europe

2,018

3.8

15+

FEMALE

Western Europe

2,018

4.8

15-49

FEMALE

Western Europe

2,018

3.1

15+

FEMALE

GeoAreaName

TimePeriod

Value

Age

Sex

Australia

2,018

2.9

15-49

FEMALE

Australia

2,018

2.0

15+

FEMALE

Australia and New Zealand

2,018

2.2

15+

FEMALE

Australia and New Zealand

2,018

3.2

15-49

FEMALE

Oceania (exc. Australia and New Zealand)

2,018

23.3

15+

FEMALE

Oceania (exc. Australia and New Zealand)

2,018

28.6

15-49

FEMALE

New Zealand

2,018

4.2

15-49

FEMALE

New Zealand

2,018

3.2

15+

FEMALE

GeoAreaName

TimePeriod

Value

Age

Sex

Eastern Asia

2,018

5.7

15+

FEMALE

Eastern Asia

2,018

7.4

15-49

FEMALE

Southern Asia

2,018

16.3

15+

FEMALE

Southern Asia

2,018

18.8

15-49

FEMALE

South-Eastern Asia

2,018

8.9

15-49

FEMALE

South-Eastern Asia

2,018

7.3

15+

FEMALE

Central Asia

2,018

8.5

15-49

FEMALE

Central Asia

2,018

7.3

15+

FEMALE

Western Asia

2,018

11.2

15+

FEMALE

Western Asia

2,018

13.4

15-49

FEMALE

GeoAreaName

TimePeriod

Value

Age

Sex

Northern America

2,018

4.0

15+

FEMALE

Northern America

2,018

5.7

15-49

FEMALE

Latin America and the Caribbean

2,018

7.0

15+

FEMALE

Latin America and the Caribbean

2,018

8.3

15-49

FEMALE

United States of America

2,018

6.0

15-49

FEMALE

United States of America

2,018

4.2

15+

FEMALE

ANALYSIS

Once the data has been filtered we can begin to perform the analysis of the proportion of women and girls aged 15+ and 15-49 years who have suffered physical, sexual or psychological violence in the last 12 months of 2018. To do so, we have divided and filtered the corresponding continents into different regions depending on the information obtained from the SDG we are using, in order to observe the differences between the values obtained. As we can see, the highest data in each region are those pertaining to women aged 15-49 years, with a clear difference between the European and African regions. In Europe, mainly in the southern region with a value of 2.7, the figures are much lower compared to those of the Central African Republic area, with a value of 20.9. However, Australia also shows low values of 2.0. On the other hand, both America and Asia maintain a minimum of 4.0 and 5.7 respectively. In this case, the next step is figuring out whether there’s a correlation between each value and the region. European countries as well as Australia and New Zealand in Oceania tend to have a lower proportion of women who have experienced gender-based violence compared to African, Asian and Latin American countries, among others. This is because many European countries have successfully implemented gender-based violence awareness programs and initiatives that have fostered a culture of reporting. Similarly, the establishment of strong laws and efficient judicial systems allows for the protection of the victim by punishing the perpetrators, which is not the case in the other regions mentioned above. On the other hand, cultural differences are significant in all aspects, specifically in the case of the perception of gender-based violence that we are analyzing. In fact, in European and Oceanian societies, the culture of denunciation and recognition of gender violence, and the consequences it entails for the victims, is far from African, Asian and Latin American societies, where the seriousness of the problem and tolerance towards it is almost non-existent.

We have also used a bar chart to represent the information and data obtained in the previous tables more visually. The difference in values between regions due to the size of the columns can be clearly seen through the chart. For the realization of this graph, we have named the x-axis “GeoAreaName” and the y-axis “Value”. The range of colours represents different regions in which it can be seen again that Oceania except Australia and New Zealand is the prominent area over the rest. Definitely, this graph allows us to perceive visually better how the data is distributed through the different regions.

On the other hand, what struck us most about the data throughout the analysis was the great difference in values between countries. Afghanistan, Melanesia, Equatorial Guinea, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea show dismal results in the proportion of women and girls aged 15+ and 15-49 subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by an intimate partner. In this case, Afghanistan is the place with the highest value, 34.7. The country is well known for not being developed in many aspects and has historically mistreated the women population even up until today. It still doesn’t have appropriate measures and has not passed any regulation in order to improve the well-being of women through its protection from this kind of crimes that they often suffer. Besides, the fact that a high percentage of them have in a sort of way confessed that they suffered from gender violence has surprised us as it is not something that often happens due to the feeling of fear and confusion the victims tend to develop.

GeoAreaName

TimePeriod

Value

Age

Sex

Afghanistan

2,018

33.6

15+

FEMALE

Afghanistan

2,018

34.7

15-49

FEMALE

Melanesia

2,018

29.8

15-49

FEMALE

Melanesia

2,018

24.5

15+

FEMALE

Equatorial Guinea

2,018

25.6

15+

FEMALE

Equatorial Guinea

2,018

28.7

15-49

FEMALE

Vanuatu

2,018

29.4

15-49

FEMALE

Vanuatu

2,018

24.2

15+

FEMALE

Papua New Guinea

2,018

25.5

15+

FEMALE

Papua New Guinea

2,018

30.6

15-49

FEMALE

In contrast, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Singapore and Switzerland are at the other end of the problem, with considerably lower figures. The hypothesis we can draw from this is that political, economic and social factors place women in a more vulnerable context depending on their location. Of course, Switzerland, with the lowest value, 1.2 is a country that is known for its commitment through progressive policies that respect human rights and promote the well-being of every individual, including the issues affecting women. For instance, it was one of the first countries in Europe to allow women to vote, which was a milestone in the case of taking women’s opinions and experiences seriously. This was one of the many steps to develop strict laws to protect women from abuse and harassment. Nevertheless, the fact that it has the lowest number implies that there is not as many women that suffer gender violence but also it may not show the actual figure as some many not be physically able to try to file a lawsuit against the perpetrator.

GeoAreaName

TimePeriod

Value

Age

Sex

Australia

2,018

2.9

15-49

FEMALE

Australia

2,018

2.0

15+

FEMALE

Canada

2,018

2.6

15-49

FEMALE

Canada

2,018

1.7

15+

FEMALE

Denmark

2,018

2.0

15+

FEMALE

Denmark

2,018

3.3

15-49

FEMALE

Iceland

2,018

2.8

15-49

FEMALE

Iceland

2,018

1.8

15+

FEMALE

Singapore

2,018

2.4

15-49

FEMALE

Singapore

2,018

2.0

15+

FEMALE

Switzerland

2,018

1.7

15-49

FEMALE

Switzerland

2,018

1.2

15+

FEMALE

This map reinforces the previous data but also shows a complete view of the continents where the data is distributed with blue and green points. The blue points show the highest proportion which again are regions of the world that are not as developed as others like the ones marked by the green points. If we take a deeper look, we come to realise that the highest figures (the worst results) come from the southern hemisphere and the lowest mostly for the northern hemisphere except for 2 places which are Singapore and Australia. As a matter of fact, both hemispheres differ from each other in several aspects due to historical, cultural, political and even economic factors. Many of the world’s most prosperous and advanced countries are located in the Northern Hemisphere, including the US, Canada, Switzerland or the countries from the European Union. These countries have rooted institutional frameworks that have allowed them to invest heavily in the well-being of their citizens including politics on gender equality. On the other hand, countries in the Southern hemisphere are the opposite due to the fact that despite some progress they still face great challenges in the topic of gender differences. Particularly in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and some parts of the Asian continent there are deeply entrenched cultural and societal norms perpetuating discrimination against women and girls which obviously makes it harder for them to be represented legally.

CONCLUSION

The analysis conducted on the “Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age” highlights the alarming situation that affects both girls and women of all ages and regions of the world. SDG indicator 5.2.1 therefore presents the high incidence of physical, sexual and psychological violence against women, especially in less developed regions. A context where patriarchal norms and beliefs continue to dictate social dynamics, as is the case in Africa and certain parts of Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) where the figures are the highest, which shows the challenges and vulnerability women face daily by a current or former intimate partner. In contrast, Europe, Australia, Canada and even Switzerland are regions that show how investment in egalitarian policies together with an effective judicial system creates a safer environment for women, with lower rates of incidences. Despite significant progress in developed countries, ineffective law enforcement and subsequent protection of girls and women in certain regions demonstrates a seriously recurring problem. It is therefore imperative to establish more restrictive laws against gender-based violence, strengthen institutions, raise public awareness and address a global perspective adapted to the needs of each region. In short, a multifaceted approach, adapted to resources, needs and socio-cultural contexts, is vital in order to eradicate violence against women.