About the Database

Violence against women is not inevitable. In fact, we have more evidence than ever on how to prevent and end it. States now need to take action with a comprehensive approach that is informed and monitored by data and which can be adapted to rapidly changing contexts. Policies and programmes can include accelerating reform of discriminatory legal frameworks; ensuring essential services are available and accessible to survivors, as well as boosting efforts to prosecute offenders.

-Sima Sami Bahous, UN Women Executive Director

Ending Violence against women and girls: If not you, who?

Background

About the Database

In December 2006, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a comprehensive resolution calling for intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women and requesting the Secretary-General to establish a coordinated database on the extent, nature and consequences of all forms of violence against women, and on the impact and effectiveness of policies and programs for eliminating such violence. The database was developed and launched in 2009, and was called the "UN Secretary-General's database on violence against women". In 2016, in accordance with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Women relaunched the databases as the "Global Database on Violence against Women". In 2024, the database was again redesigned and relaunched to allow users to more easily navigate through its extensive content. UN Women serves as the secretariat for the database.

Aim

Aim

 

The Database is designed to:

 

  • Provide easy access to comprehensive and up-to-date information on measures undertaken by Governments to address different forms of violence against women.

  • Increase opportunities for exchange of experiences in addressing violence against women.

  • Strengthen the knowledge-base for effective policy responses to prevent and address violence against women.

  • Encourage the further collection, availability, use and dissemination of data on violence against women, as well as analysis of such data.
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Source of Information

The primary sources of information for the database are official reports submitted by United Nations Member States in their efforts to monitor the implementation of global instruments on violence against women. The sources of official information include:

 
  • Information provided in response to questionnaires sent to all Member States on violence against women, including as part of the preparations of the UN Secretary-General’s reports to the General Assembly. 

  • Information provided by Governments in follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995), including: the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the UN General Assembly (2000); the national review of implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in the context of the 20th and 25th anniversaries of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (2015 and 2020).

  • Government reports to human rights bodies, including the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

  •  Information available through official reports of other relevant United Nations entities.

  • Government statement made at the United Nations.
content of database

Content of the Database

The global database is a unique “one-stop site” for information on the following types of measures undertaken by Governments to address violence against women:

 

  • Institutional mechanisms

  • Research and statistical data

  • Laws

  • Policies

  • Budgets
  • Services

  • Prevention

  • Perpetrators programmes

  • Regional/International initiatives

  • Monitoring and evaluation

How to Use the Database

Data search

The ‘search’ function on the left side in the ‘data page’ allows the user to search the database by: type of measure; form of violence; year; region and country. This is the most comprehensive and systematic method of searching the database. The visualization modality can be changed between ‘world map’ and ‘grid view’ by clicking on the icons on the top-left.   

When selecting the ‘grid view’ as visualization mode, users may search the database using the search field. However, this search will return only those records that contain the exact language that the user has entered and is therefore likely not to return as many results as the advanced search option. 

Country profiles

Each country profile provides the user with a snapshot of available prevalence data on different forms of violence against women*, reports submitted by the UN Human Rights bodies, and the availability of a selection of key measures providing a quick assessment of the comprehensiveness of national responses. Country profiles also provide access to all the measures adopted by the selected country.

*The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life” (General Assembly Resolution 48/104 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, 1993).

Prevalence data on different forms of violence against women

Each country page provides the following prevalence data:

  • Physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence in the last 12 months

  • Lifetime physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence

  • Lifetime non-partner sexual violence

The prevalence data on violence against women are the raw data provided by Member States through their national studies and published in the study reports. They differ from the data that are used for the reporting of the Sustainable Development Goals (target 5.2 indicators) for which data were modeled estimates in order to be comparable over time and territories (see WHO Global Database on Prevalence of Violence against Women).

Frequently Asked Questions

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  • What countries are included in the database?

    All 193 Member States of the United Nations are included in the database. Each of these Member States reported at least one measure addressing violence against women.  

  • How is the data collected and managed?

    As the secretariat of the database, UN Women is entrusted with collecting and managing the data. All information featured in the database consists of official data produced and provided by Member States of the United Nations. These measures are extracted from State periodic reports submitted to UN human rights bodies and instruments, as well as their responses to dedicated questionnaires or statements (see Sources of information above). UN Women reviews these reported measures to keep the data current and records them in the database tagging them with relevant key words to facilitate searches.

  • How often is the database updated?

    The database is updated at each reporting cycle of relevant instruments (see Sources of information above) and at least every two years in parallel to the preparations of the UN Secretary-General's reports to the General Assembly. Information for individual countries is also updated on an ad hoc basis, such as when new national statistics on violence against women are produced or when a communication is received on new measures. Requests for specific updates can be sent through the Contact form.

  • How to cite information from the database?

    All information provided in the database is referenced by the original official source document, which should be quoted as the primary source. References to the database can be made as follows: UN Women. Global database on violence against women. Citation date of the day the database was accessed. URL The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life” (General Assembly Resolution 48/104 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, 1993).

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