WHO joins UN agencies on a call to action on violence against women

8 March - International Women’s Day - WHO joins UN agencies on a call to action on violence against women during the 57th Commission on Social Status of Women (CSSW), taking place in New York.

• Violence against women fact sheet
• Building partnerships to prevent violence against women

25 November 2012 - International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women - For women in many parts of the world, violence is a leading cause of injury and disability, as well as a risk factor for other physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health problems. WHO and the Pan American Health Organization have developed a series of information sheets on violence against women that summarizes what is known about the prevalence, patterns, consequences, risk factors and strategies to address the different forms of VAW. This series is for programme managers, practitioners, researchers, policy-makers and others working in a wide range of sectors and in every country.

• See information sheets

To help ensure better care and support for those who have experienced partner violence or sexual violence, WHO works, among other things, to strengthen the health sector response to violence against women.

• Primary prevention
• Health sector response

Intimate partner violence during pregnancy has been found to be associated with fatal and non-fatal adverse health outcomes for the pregnant woman and her baby due to the direct trauma of abuse to a pregnant woman’s body, as well as the physiological effects of stress from current or past abuse on fetal growth and development.

• See information sheet