CYBER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS

2
THE EVOLUTION OF
THE INTERNET AND ITS
RAMIFICATIONS FOR
‘CYBER VAWG’
2.1 What the numbers tell us
Violence against women
• Violence against women has been described as a
‘pandemic ‘in Europe, where 62 million women,
or one in three, have suffered from violent acts
since the age of 15. This pandemic is very much
evident around the globe. It has manifested itself
on a disturbing scale in many countries, in some
parts 8 out of 10 women are reported to suffer
some kind of violence including sexual, physical
and psychological violence. 29 The prevalence of
intimate partner violence alone can range between
15 and 71 percent measured comparatively in
different countries. This tells us there is nothing
inevitable about violence against women and
girls; its levels and dynamics are not fixed and
“Until domestic violence became a national policy priority,
abuse was dismissed as a lovers’ quarrel. Today’s harmless
jokes and undue burdens are tomorrow’s civil rights agenda.”
Amanda Hess, Technology Journalist
can be altered – and governments, organizations,
communities and individuals can make a
difference. 30
• In 2014 the European Union Agency for
Fundamental Rights (FRA) published the results
of a survey on VAW suffered in their families, at
work, in public and on the Internet as well as the
effect it has on their lives and the way in which
victims respond to aggression. Surprisingly the
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