Sexual Violence Against Children (SVAC) and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women are not merely social or criminal issues but represent a leading global risk for morbidity and mortality that has not been adequately recognized until now.
These alarming findings were published in The Lancet journal as part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2023 study, conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
For the first time, IHME researchers created a comprehensive map of the health outcomes associated with SVAC and IPV across 204 countries and territories worldwide. The study showed that the disease burden related to violence is far greater than previously perceived, fundamentally changing the understanding of these issues and underscoring their status as critical public health priorities.
SVAC was linked to 14 health conditions, while IPV was associated with 8 negative health outcomes, significantly broadening the spectrum of previously recognized associations.
As of 2023, more than 1 billion people aged 15 and older globally had experienced sexual violence in childhood, while 608 million women and girls in this age group had endured physical or sexual intimate partner violence.
Collectively, these risks contribute to the loss of more than 50 million healthy life years globally (a metric encompassing years lost due to both premature death and disability). In women aged 15-49, IPV and SVAC were ranked globally as the fourth and fifth leading risk factors for health loss, surpassing many well-known health problems.
According to the study, violence is not just a social problem that occasionally impacts health; it is a leading cause of death and disability. In 2023, SVAC was linked to 290,000 deaths worldwide, primarily due to suicide, HIV/AIDS, and type 2 diabetes. IPV was associated with 145,000 deaths, mostly resulting from homicide, suicide, and HIV/AIDS. Alarmingly, approximately 30,000 women were murdered by their partners in 2023 alone.
Mental disorders contribute the largest share to the health outcomes. In the burden resulting from SVAC, the loss of healthy years is dominated by anxiety in women and schizophrenia in men. The largest portion of the burden linked to IPV stems from anxiety and major depressive disorder. Researchers note that survivors of violence will require both immediate and long-term care.
The study underscores that violence is preventable with effective interventions such as comprehensive legislation, trauma-informed healthcare, school-based prevention programs, and economic empowerment.
