Editorial: Violence Against Women Across the Globe

Abstract

In keep with our global mental health theme for 2013, my editorial remarks this month will focus on violence against women across the globe. In my view, improved mental health for the world’s people can never be achieved without decreasing the violence perpetrated on girls and women. Since I became editor of this journal, we have published a number of special themed issues on this egregious violence, the most recent one being issue number 12 for 2012. That issue called attention to support for battered pregnant women, factors inhibiting women’s ability to separate from abusive partners, marginality of abused women, and constraints imposed by service agencies (Alhalal, 2012; Bhandari, 2012; Koci, 2012). The authors were eloquent, the research impressive. I am proud of this special issue. Yet, regrettably, the issue only scratched the surface of the immense international problem of violence against women, which involves female infanticide, childhood abuse of girls, rape of girls and women, genital mutilation, sex trafficking, and domestic violence. In daily news broadcasts, we hear of men throwing acid at girls in Bangladesh, gang rapes in Papua New Guinea, stoning of female “adulterers” in Afghanistan, and torture of female prisoners in Latin America. In recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (November 25), Routledge offered free downloads of a number of articles from its journals, shedding further light on both universal and culturally-specific forms of violence against women. A sampling of topics included sexual assault of college women in the UK, marital rape in Nigeria, war-related rape in the Congo, violence against sex workers in Ethiopia, female genital mutilation in the African Sudanic belt, honor killings in Iraq, and sexual victimization of Asian American women (Banwell, 2012; Chika, 2011; Hague, Gill, & Begikhani, 2012; Kedir & Admasachew, 2010; Lee & Law, 2001; Phipps & Smith, 2012; Wilson, 2012). Once again, in perusing these articles I found eloquent authors and impressive research. The words of female victims, as quoted in the articles, haunt the reader. For example, a college student in the UK who had experienced as violent assault reported: