At least one in five women have been physically or sexually abused by a man at some time in their lives. 1 WHO Department of Injuries and Violence Prevention (VIP)WHO violence against women information pack, 1997. http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/vaw/infopack.htm Google Scholar According to the World Bank, gender-based violence accounts for as much death and ill-health in women aged 15–44 years as cancer, and is a greater cause of ill-health than malaria and traffic accidents combined. 2 World BankWorld development report 1993: investing in health. Oxford University Press, New York1993 Crossref Google Scholar G8 leaders have set ambitious targets for reducing the global burdens of disease caused by tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS by 2010, but why does violence against women, a massive cause of morbidity and mortality, remain overlooked by governments? Not for any lack of awareness; many conferences, policy statements, and reports have highlighted and debated the problem. For example, in 1996, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) established a trust fund to provide direct support to hundreds of women's development and empowerment projects around the world. In 1999, the UN designated Nov 25 the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. In October, 2001, Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs launched an information and resource website entitled End Violence Against Women. In 1993, one of the most comprehensive international policy statements on gender-based violence, the Declaration against Violence against Women, was adopted by the UN General Assembly. And, later this year, WHO will launch the first Global Report on Violence and Health, with one of seven topic-specific chapters devoted to violence by an intimate partner. Violence against women: global scope and magnitudeAn increasing amount of research is beginning to offer a global overview of the extent of violence against women. In this paper we discuss the magnitude of some of the most common and most severe forms of violence against women: intimate partner violence; sexual abuse by non-intimate partners; trafficking, forced prostitution, exploitation of labour, and debt bondage of women and girls; physical and sexual violence against prostitutes; sex selective abortion, female infanticide, and the deliberate neglect of girls; and rape in war. Full-Text PDF