Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls by UNICEF, Innocenti Research Centre (May 2000)

This report defines its terms then discusses the scope and magnitude of the problem highlighting issues of physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse; femicide; forced prostitution; sexual abuse of children and adolescents; sex-selective abortion, female infanticide and differential access to food and medical care; and, traditional and cultural practices that affect the health and lives of women. It also looks at the causes and consequences of domestic violence including health consequences, the imapct on children, the denial of fundamental rights and the undermining of a female's human development goals. It calculates the socio-economic costs of this violence and suggests an integrated approach to strategies and interventions on multiple systemic levels: the family, the local community, the state, and through international means.

The report highlights global statistics that between 20-50% of all women and girls have experienced physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner or family member (varies by country), more than 60 million females are absent from population statistics -- "killed by their own families deliberately or through neglect, simply because of their gender", and only 44 countries have adopted specific legislation to address domestic violence.

• Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls

• UNICEF
• May 31, 2000 press release for the report: "Violence against women and girls still a global epidemic"