Battered dreams. Gender violence and development.

In a 1988 survey of issues of concern to womens groups in developing countries MATCH International a Canadian nongovernmental organization (NGO) found that violence against women was the most frequent problem raised. In the United States as rape occurs every 6 minutes and domestic battery causes more injuries to women than car accidents rapes and muggings together according to the National Center on Women and Family Law. Almost 1 in 4 women will be physically abused by a current or former partner at some point in their lives according to the American Medical Associations. 3 different studies showed consistently that women were battered even when pregnant and 25-62% of those surveyed where in shelters for battered women. Police report that domestic disputes account for 40-60% of the calls they receive. Reports from France suggest 95% of all victims of violence are women 51% of these at the hands of their own husbands. In Denmark 25% of women cite violence as the reason for divorce. A 3-year study in Austria uncovered a high level of wife abuse as did official statistics from Poland. UN data in 1989 showed that about 1/2 of murder victims in the United Kingdom were killed by their husbands lovers or boyfriends. The Mexican Federation of Women Trade Unions reported that 95% of women workers were victims of sexual harassment committed with impunity. In a 1990 survey of child prostitution in Cochabamba Bolivia 79% of the girls said they became prostitutes after becoming victims of incest and rape by male relatives. At all 3 World Conference on Women (Mexico City 1975 Copenhagen 1980 and Nairobi 1985) activists demanded womens full participation in society. The United Nations Nairobi document with the forceful Resolution 258 calls for prevention and institutional assistance to women victims of violence encountered in everyday life in all societies.