ArticlesWorldwide prevalence of non-partner sexual violence: a systematic review
Introduction
Reports of rapes and murders of young women in India and South Africa have focused international attention on the horror of sexual violence. Although it is tempting to view these events as isolated, they should be seen as part of a larger, daily reality of sexual violence against women.
The terms rape, sexual violence, and sexual abuse encompass many forms of violence, including sexual harassment and sexual trafficking.1 An important issue in sexual violence is the relationship between the victim and perpetrator. Historically and in the popular media, sexual assault has commonly been viewed as an act between strangers and, therefore, a crime, as supported by sexual-assault laws.2 Research into intimate-partner violence in the past decade, however, has shown that a substantial proportion of sexual violence occurs within marriage and other intimate partnerships.3, 4 Sexual violence perpetrated by people, such as strangers, acquaintances, friends, colleagues, peers, teachers, neighbours, and family members is referred to as non-partner sexual violence. Irrespective of whether sexual violence is perpetrated by partners or non-partners, it is generally traumatic for the victim, although the pattern, degree, and effect of violence might differ dependent on the perpetrator.5, 6, 7, 8 Intimate-partner sexual violence frequently occurs over long periods of time and is accompanied by controlling behaviour, whereas such a pattern might not be present in non-partner sexual violence.4
Despite the focus on violence within intimate partnerships,3, 9 research on non-partner sexual violence has increased less,1, 4 and the development of common definitions and measuring tools have not received the same attention. Where comparisons have been done, non-partner sexual violence has shown similarities with intimate-partner violence in terms of risk factors and the broad range of effects on health.5, 6 Nevertheless, there are also some important differences, including in prevalence, as reported in the WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women (WHO-MCS)9 and studies of population-based rape in South Africa and Asia.10, 11 Findings indicated that rapes by strangers are more violent and have higher risk of involvement of weapons and injury than those by known perpetrators, but with the latter the betrayal of trust might greatly affect post-assault outcomes, including psychological functioning.5, 6, 12
A fundamental first step in the development of effective responses to non-partner sexual violence is improved understanding of prevalence in the general populations of different countries and regions. We did a systematic review of data on the prevalence of non-partner sexual violence worldwide in women aged 15 years and older. This study was done as part of the work for the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study13 to contribute to the quantification of the burden of disease and injury attributed to interpersonal violence.
Section snippets
Literature search
We did a review of population-based prevalence estimates of non-partner sexual violence worldwide that involved peer-reviewed and grey literature. We searched for articles published from Jan 1, 1998, to Dec 31, 2011. We also manually searched for citations in reference lists of retrieved articles and made contact with experts. We included studies published in languages other than English, and obtained full-text translation as required. The databases and search terms used are presented in the
Results
We identified 7231 abstracts or records for screening. The main reasons for exclusion were incorrect study design (non-population-based studies), focus on intimate-partner violence, and analysis of combined perpetrators or types of violence (figure 1). We identified 44 potential records in the additional search that were not included because none was a journal article, and seemed instead to be commentaries, letters, or web-based information that was no longer available. 145 records or abstracts
Discussion
We estimated that worldwide in 2010, 7·2% of women older than 15 years had reported ever having experienced non-partner sexual violence. Thus, non-partner sexual violence is widespread and in some regions is endemic, reaching more than 15% in four regions. Generally, prevalence was highest in regions with the most datapoints. The regional variations were wide. Thus, although they might reflect true variations, differences could be linked to levels of disclosure. Sexual violence is highly
References (32)
- et al.
Violence against women: global scope and magnitude
Lancet
(2002) - et al.
Prevalence of intimate partner violence: findings from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence
Lancet
(2006) - et al.
GBD 2010: design, definitions, and metrics
Lancet
(2012) - et al.
Childhood sexual abuse, adolescent sexual behaviors and sexual revictimization
Child Abuse Negl
(1997) Social support and recovery from sexual assault: a review
Aggress Violent Behav
(1999)- et al.
Sexual violence
(2002) - et al.
Rape in marriage: a sociological review
- et al.
Global health. The global prevalence of intimate partner violence against women
Science
(2013) - et al.
Impact of sexual assault as a function of perpetrator type
J Interpers Violence
(2001) - et al.
Differing effects of partner and nonpartner sexual assault on women's mental health
Violence Against Women
(2007)
The factors affecting sexual assaults committed by strangers and acquaintances
Violence Against Women
Changes in coping strategies, relationship to the perpetrator, and posttraumatic distress in female crime victims
J Trauma Stress
Gender inequitable masculinity and sexual entitlement in rape perpetration South Africa: findings of a cross-sectional study
PLoS One
Depressive symptoms after a sexual assault: understanding victim-perpetrator relationships and the role of social perceptions
Afr J Psychiatry
Violence against women: an international perspective
Cited by (272)
Exploring women's experiences of healing from sexual trauma through engagement in mind–body practices: A systematic review
2024, Counselling and Psychotherapy ResearchThe Association of Teen Pregnancy and Violence: A Multilevel Study in Colombia
2024, Women's Health Reports