Violence against women goes widely unreported. There are various factors which prevent women from reporting incidents of violence, such as fear of retribution, lack of economic means, emotional dependence, concern for children and no access to redress. Few countries have special training for the police, judicial and medical staff to deal with rape cases.

Around the world

  • Around 20-70% of abused women never told another person about the abuse until being interviewed for the study by WHO (WHO, Geneva, 2002).
  • In South Africa the conviction rate for rape remains low at an average of 7%. A third of the estimated number or rapes were reported in 2003 (Police Annual Report for the year ending March 2003).
  • In Egypt 47% of physically abused women never told anyone (Population-based study, 1999) (WHO 2002).
  • In Chile only 3% of all raped women report the incident to the police (WHO 2002).
  • In the USA 16% of women report rapes to the police; of those who do not, nearly 50 per cent of women would do so if they could be assured that their names and private details would not be released publicly (National Victim Center /Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, 1992).
  • In Australia 18% of women who were physically assaulted in a period of 12 months never told any one (Population-based study, 1999).
  • In Bangladesh 68% of women never told anyone about being beaten (WHO 2002).
  • In Austria 20% of reported rape cases ended in convictions in the 1990s (London Metropolitan University, 2003).
  • In Ireland 20% of physically abused women contacted the police (Population-based study, 1999; WHO 2002).
  • In the Russian Federation 40% of women victims of violence within the family do not seek help from law enforcement officials (International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, Women 2000: Russia).
  • In the United Kingdom 13% of all raped women report the assault to the police (Joni Seager, 2003).

Violence with impunity

Violence against women often remains unchecked and unpunished. Some states have no laws at all, others have flawed laws which may punish some forms of violence but exempt others. Even with the appropriate legislation in place, many states fail to implement the law fully.

Around the world

  • In 2003 at least 54 countries had discriminatory laws against women (based on a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women).
  • In her 1994-2003 review, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women highlighted problems of law enforcement in almost all of the reviewed states.
  • 79 countries have no (or unknown) legislation against domestic violence (UNIFEM, Not a Minute More, 2003).
  • Marital rape is recognized specifically as a crime in only 51 countries as far as information was available (UNIFEM, 2003).
  • Only 16 nations have legislation specifically referring to sexual assault, while as few as three have legislation that specifically addresses violence against women as a category of criminal activity in itself (Bangladesh, Sweden and USA) (UNIFEM 2003).
  • In Bolivia, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Peru, Romania, Uruguay and Venezuela, a rapist can go free under the penal code if he proposes to marry the victim and she consents (Joni Seager, The Atlas of Women, 2003).
  • So called "honour" defences (partial or complete) are found in the penal codes of Peru, Bangladesh, Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, the West Bank and Venezuela (UN 2002).