Violence against women must concern obstetrician-gynecologists.

Abstract

Professor Rachel Jewkes is a medical doctor and physical health specialist, and the Director of the South African Medical Research Council’s Gender and Health Research Unit. She is a former Vice-President of the Medical Research Council, and is leading the DFID-supported What Works to Prevent Violence Global Programme, which is funding research and innovation in prevention of gender-based violence in 14 countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. She is also Secretary of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI). Violence against women (VAW) occurs in every country, and onethird of women worldwide have experienced partner violence [1]. Risk of recent exposure to intimate partner violence and rape—the two most widespread forms of VAW—varies considerably, and in many populations, more than one in five women have experienced violence in the past year [2,3]. Female genital mutilation and child