At least one in four women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at the hands of a male intimate partner, a major new global study has shown.

Using data from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Database on the Prevalence of Violence Against Women, which covers 90% of women worldwide, researchers estimated that 27% of women aged between 15 and 49 have experienced intimate partner violence, with 13% experiencing this in the last year.

The data covered the period 2000 to 2018 and looked at intimate partner violence of “ever-partnered women”, which was defined as women who are or have been married, co-habited or have a long-term sexual partner.

This latest research used population-based surveys, improved quality of data and updated methods to provide current prevalence estimates of intimate partner violence across the world. It included over 300 eligible surveys and studies conducted between 2000 and 2018, covering 161 countries, including Ireland, and accounting for two million women aged 15 and older.

Statistical analysis allowed estimation of the prevalence of intimate partner violence over different age groups, regions and time ranges to be calculated.

The findings suggest that intimate partner violence starts early as it was already prevalent in the youngest age group. Some 24% of 15-19 year-olds had experienced violence from an intimate partner at least once since the age of 15.

These figures were described as “alarming” by the study’s lead author, Lynnmarie Sardinha of WHO.

“Adolescence and early adulthood are important life stages when the foundations for healthy relationships are built. The violence these young women experience has long-lasting impacts on their health and wellbeing.

“Intimate partner violence is preventable and more needs to be done to develop and invest in effective community and school-based interventions that promote gender equality and reduce young women’s risk of being subjected to violence from a partner,” she commented.

According to the study’s senior author, Claudia García-Moreno of WHO, intimate partner violence “affects the lives of millions of women, children, families and societies worldwide”.

“Although this study took place before the Covid-19 pandemic, the numbers are alarming and research has shown the pandemic exacerbated issues leading to intimate partner violence such as isolation, depression, anxiety and alcohol use, as well as reducing access to support services.

“Preventing intimate partner violence from happening in the first place is vital and urgent. Governments, societies and communities need to take heed, invest more and act with urgency to reduce violence against women, including by addressing it in post-COVID reconstruction efforts,” she commented.

The estimates suggest that in 2018 alone, up to 492 million women aged 15-49 years experienced intimate partner violence in the past 12 months, equating to 13% or one in seven women. Since estimates in this study are based off women’s self-reported experiences, and given the sensitive and stigmatised nature of this issue, the true prevalence of violence that these women are subjected to by an intimate partner is likely to be even higher.

Overall, high-income countries had lower estimated prevalence rates of both lifetime and past-year intimate partner violence among ever-partnered women aged 15-49. The researchers noted that regional differences were particularly pronounced between high income and low- and lower-middle-income regions for past-year intimate partner violence.

“These findings confirm that violence against women by male intimate partners remains a global public health challenge. Governments are not on target to meet goals to eradicate violence against women by 2030. The authors call for urgent investment in effective multisector interventions and a strengthened public health response in tackling this issue post-Covid-19,” Ms García-Moreno added.

This research is published in the journal, The Lancet.