World Cup statistics

With the football World Cup starting this week, we have a different set of statistics: violence against women is being played out in battlefields, bedrooms and backstreets around the world. Find out how your country scores.

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Between 9 June and 9 July 2006, the football World Cup for men will take place in Germany.

During this month, men and women worldwide will be focusing intently on the latest statistics: shots on goal, penalty kicks, ball possession, fouls committed and yellow and red cards.

Meanwhile, a different kind of statistics will continue to grow unnoticed. This month, like every other month of the year, every year, more women and girls will be stalked, raped, sexually abused and harassed, trafficked for sexual exploitation, beaten or killed across the world. And there will be no red cards handed out.

Violence against women is played out in battlefields, bedrooms and backstreets. But the referee is not watching. And now the crowd is crying foul!

We must take responsibility and stop being complicit to this human rights scandal through apathy, tolerance and silence.

Join the chorus of men and women fighting to stop violence against women.

Take action. [link to Sudan Darfur web action]

Pass it on. [link to “email a friend”]

Take action

While the world waits for justice, the perpetrators continue to rape and kill with impunity in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Since 2003, thousands of women and girls have been raped or subjected to other forms of sexual violence in Darfur. Two million civilians have been forced to flee their homes and over 200,000 remain in refugee camps in Chad. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating crimes in Darfur. It now recognizes serious crimes of violence against women as crimes against humanity. Yet, authorities in Sudan have publicly refused to cooperate with the ICC or bring those responsible to justice before national courts.

International pressure works.

It's time to put the Sudanese authorities under fire - Take action now! [link to Sudan Darfur web action]

FRANCE

A woman dies every 4 days after being beaten by her partner.

More than half of those women killed have previously been subjected to domestic violence.

UKRAINE

Conviction rates are low for the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation

Domestic violence is a major factor in forcing women to seek work abroad

SWEDEN

Assaults against women are on the increase, with 22,400 reports filed in 2003.

Most municipalities lack strategic plans to address violence against women

SPAIN

Over 60 women were reported to have been killed in incidents of domestic violence in 2005.

47,000 complaints of violence against women were recorded in the first half of 2004, an increase of 24% over the comparable period in 2003

SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

24% of 1,456 female respondents surveyed in 2003 had experienced physical or sexual violence

Only 4% reported this to the police

78% of those surveyed never sought assistance from any agency

UNITED KINGDOM

In 2000 alone, it is estimated that 1,420 women were trafficked into the UK

Domestic violence claims the lives of two women each week and 30 men per year

A third (34%) of people in the UK believe that a woman is partially or totally responsible for being raped if she has behaved in a flirtatious manner.

Around one in 12 people (8%) believed that a woman was totally responsible for being raped if she has many sexual partners

POLAND

Shelters for survivors of domestic violence do not exist in many places

Appropriate protection is not afforded to victims of domestic violence

Training for law enforcement officers is inadequate

SWITZERLAND

In 2005 domestic violence remained prevalent throughout Switzerland

A new federal law failed to protect victims of domestic violence who were classified as non-nationals

PORTUGAL

33 women are reported to have been killed during 2005 as a result of violence in the family

29 women were killed by their husband, former boyfriend or partner; and four by other relatives

CROATIA

Croatia has become a country of origin, transit and destination of trafficked women and girls

There are only a few shelters available for women survivors of violence

There is a lack of clear procedures for law enforcement and health-care personnel who respond to cases of domestic violence

CZECH REPUBLIC

In 2004, 80 complaints were being investigated against hospitals that allegedly sterilized women without their informed consent

ITALY

There is concern about the effects of laws on the rights of trafficked women

NETHERLANDS

One in five women has experienced violence by an intimate partner

According to police calculations yearly 500,000 incidents of domestic violence occur

15% of girls have experienced sexual abuse by a family member, before their 16th birthday.

In 2005, 425 cases of trafficking of women are officially reported. Most victims of trafficking live in conditions of sex slavery.

GERMANY

1 in 5 women in Germany are estimated to suffer physical or sexual violence at the hands of their partner

Between 30,000 and 60,000 women and girls might be the object of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation during the FIFA World Cup

JAPAN

Up to 200,000 women and girls were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military before and during WWII. The survivors are still fighting for justice from the government of Japan.

AUSTRALIA

Domestic violence is the leading cause of premature death and ill-health in women aged 15 to 44

36 per cent of Australian women with a current or former partner have experienced violence in a relationship

KOREA

In 2002 it was revealed that 12% of migrant women surveyed had suffered from sexual violence at work. Many of them did not report the abuse for fear of dismissal from work and loss of their legal status

Among undocumented women migrant workers, 54 % of those who experienced sexual violence were threatened with forcible return to their countries by their employers if they reported the abuse

IRAN

Blood money for a murdered woman is half that of a man

Women do not have equal rights to divorce

After divorce women can have custody of their children only up until the age of seven years

Women are barred from running for Presidential office

TUNISIA

The Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD) runs the country’s only shelter for women survivors of violence

The majority of women seeking assistance from the ATFD have suffered from domestic violence perpetrated by their husbands and/or by their extended families

Serious social and familial pressures are brought to bear on women who publicly denounce acts of domestic violence

SAUDI ARABIA

in April 2004 domestic violence attracted national and international attention when, after being beaten by her husband, a television presenter made her ordeal public to raise awareness about violence suffered by women in the home in Saudi Arabia.

ANGOLA

Legal protection for survivors of domestic violence is inadequate and the police lack sensitivity towards them

There is a lack of specific legislation for violence against women, as well as a lack of adequate policies, programmes and services

Women are reluctant to report cases of violence because of the attitude of law enforcement officers

GHANA

Women and girls are most at risk of sexual violence between 10 and 18 years of age

Perpetrators of violence are lovers, spouses, family members, ex-spouses and acquaintances

Most women do not generally report their experiences of violence

CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Since the September 2002 armed uprising, women have been victims of rape and sexual assault by both sides in the conflict, sometimes on the basis of their ethnicity, and in order to humiliate the whole community to which they belong

None of the alleged perpetrators have been prosecuted and many women continue to suffer from the consequences of these sexual assaults, including HIV/AIDS. Most of them have neither access to adequate medical care nor any possibility of redress or compensation.

TOGO

In February 2006, the UN noted “occurrences of female genital mutilation, domestic violence, rape, including marital rape, and all forms of sexual abuse of women, and (…) the persistence of patriarchal attitudes that consider the physical chastisement of family members, including women, acceptable”.

Members of the militia and soldiers raped women suspected of supporting the opposition at the time of the presidential election held in 2005. No independent inquiry has been opened and none of the perpetrators of these crimes have been brought to justice.

ARGENTINA

When Argentina was under military rule the Plaza de Mayo Mothers and Grandmothers came together to denounce the "disappearance" of their children and to campaign for their safe return. In recent months members of the two organizations have been the target of physical violence and threats. Four women human rights defenders, who were over 80 years of age, were harassed, threatened or beaten. Amnesty International is concerned at the apparent escalation of violence against them for their continuing work on behalf of their "disappeared" children.

MEXICO

One in four women in Mexico have been the victim of physical violence at least once in their lifetime and one in six women have experienced sexual violence

Women and young girls, particularly from the poorest sectors of society, continue to suffer discrimination and violence in the home and community

Official statistics from 2005 indicate that nearly half of all women over the age of 15 have suffered some form of violence.

USA

Police often fail to respond adequately to gender-based “hate crimes” or domestic violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people

While violence in the home is a serious problem in the USA for both heterosexual and same-sex couples, LGBT survivors of domestic violence often feel extreme isolation – a problem exacerbated by the scarcity of programmes and support services available to this group

BRAZIL

Women suffer extensive violence. While the federal government has taken some important steps, most women, especially those in poor communities, still lack effective protection or redress.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

An estimated 14,000 women, aged 15-49, lived with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2003

The number of HIV-positive adolescent girls and women aged 15-19 is five times the number of males of the same age range

45% of new infections occur in females, and 70% of new infections among 15-24 year olds occur in females

COSTA RICA

The Domestic Violence Act does not penalize domestic violence or rape in marriage

Programmes to combat violence against women, including training and awareness promotion for court officials and judges need to be strengthened

ECUADOR

National law defines violence against women as a minor offence, not a serious offence

Sexual abuse is not defined as an offence

Trafficking in women, particularly for the sex industry, is not penalized by law, leaving its victims unprotected.

PARAGUAY

A woman is assassinated every 10 days

There is a need to reinforce the notion that violence against women is socially and morally unacceptable

The penalty imposed on perpetrators of domestic violence is only a fine

There are only few shelters and other services for survivors of violence