WHO: Violence Against Women is a Health 'Epidemic'

One third of women in the world experience physical or sexual violence.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated the global scale of violence against women, claiming that one in three women experience physical or sexual abuse.

In a statement, Margaret Chan, the director-general of WHO, defined the phenomenon as a "global health problem of epidemic proportions."

Violence affects the physical and mental health of victims, WHO said in the report, noting that women suffering from violence are more likely to develop alcoholism, suffer from depression, contract diseases and have unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

To address the issue the report recommends that governments provide better access to post-rape care and healthcare training.

"Promising prevention programmes exist, and need to be tested and scaled up," the report said, noting that there is a need for better reporting and more attention to prevention while also addressing social and cultural factors.

In the Balkans and Turkey, domestic violence remains a problem that civil society groups and governments are trying to address.

Last year, Romania took a significant step when it passed a domestic violence law following a public campaign that rallied the support of thousands of citizens.

The new law allows victims to ask a court for a restraining order against the aggressor for two years. In addition, the aggressor can be forced to pay the victim's medical costs and accommodation. It also stipulates fines be leveled against social centres or hospitals that refuse to receive victims of domestic violence and provides free legal assistance to victims.

"This law has created a revolution in Romanian society too much dominated by patriarchal attitudes. Now it is necessary to promote law in rural areas so that everybody learns how to protect themselves and which institutions to appeal to," Petru Movila, a lawmaker in the Romanian parliament and the initiator of the law, told SES Türkiye .

According to the official statistics, almost 2,000 people were victims of domestic violence last year in Romania.

In Turkey, all health workers and social workers are required to be trained about health aspects of gender violence, while perpetrators are obliged to be subject to a rehabilitation programme. Female victims of violence have the right to access free health services.

In addition, every municipality in Turkey with 50,000 inhabitants is required to have at least one shelter to protect domestic violence victims. However, implementation has been slow with only 63 shelters across the country.

Meanwhile, the number of women applying to shelters to escape domestic violence has increased, with almost 5,000 women applying to shelters in the first nine months of 2012 alone. Reported cases of domestic violence and violence against women in Turkey doubled in the last four years. Last year, 155 women were killed.

Linda Fraim, from the psychology department of Istanbul's Fatih University, has worked with victims of sexual and domestic violence for 10 years. She pointed to a gap between laws and implementation as one of the biggest problems facing Turkey.

Croatia is also faced with the health impacts of gender violence.

According to the UNICEF office in Croatia, between 2005 and 2009 there were 119 murders of family members, mostly women.

In Croatia, the health impacts of domestic violence are mainly addressed by civil society organisations.

Maja Mamula, a co-ordinator at the NGO Women's Room, told SES Türkiye that in the last 15 years much has been done to prevent violence against women.

However, when it comes to health and healthcare services, Croatia doesn't have enough shelters and counseling opportunities, Mamula said.

As underlined by the WHO report, countries need to train health workers on how to best support the survivors of violence, including developing clinical and policy guidelines with efficient consultation procedures and confidentiality rules.

Fraim said that it is important that people who work in this field be trained properly and that an effective confidentiality rules are applied. Otherwise, she said, the rest of society may stigmatise victims.

In Serbia, according to the UN Development Programme, half of women have witnessed psychological violence and nearly 22 percent are victims of physical violence. During the last three years, the number of reported domestic violence cases tripled.

In February 2010, the Health Council of Serbia accredited the course "Health Consequences of Violence in Partners' Relationships" to the Autonomous Women's Centre in Belgrade, with the aim of establishing and improving primary healthcare workers' professional response to the needs of women who experience violence from partners.

Similarly, Serbia in 2011 adopted the National Strategy for Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women in the Family and in Intimate Partner Relationships, a document in line with international recommendations and drafted in close partnership with relevant stakeholders, including civil society and professional networks.

Source: SES Türkiye