End Violence Against Women

Art credits in References

**1 in 3 women have been victims of some form of physical violence.**

**More than 1 in 3 women have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV).**

**1 in 5 teen girls have experienced IPV.**

**1 in 3 teen girls across more than 30 countries have been victims of female genital mutilation.**

**More than 600 million women were married as minors.**

Numbers. Facts. Figures.

Stories lost within statistics that are disguised as caring about the violence women and girls suffer every day.

Violence against women has never been a new phenomenon. A truth as old as time, patriarchal standards at the creation of any society have long oppressed women. Religion is often at the center of this oppression, providing men with excuses to hold power over women in the church and in the home. As religious patriarchal ideals bleed into society and governments, religious tyranny transforms into laws that encroach upon women’s rights–human rights. Violence becomes normalized because women are viewed as inferior to men due to religious beliefs. Practices like child marriage and female genital mutilation are still prevalent in several countries across the world as efforts to control women from early ages.

As curious humans, we enjoy studying beings, ideas, places, and anything that we have a desire to understand. To digest the findings, we create results in the form of tables, charts, graphs, statistics, etc. When stories are turned into statistics, they lose the underlying meaning, the significance, and the trauma experienced. Violence against women, a topic already not handled as seriously as it should be, is often reduced to categorization and percentages and massive numbers designed to make the public feel sympathy for those who fall into these groups before moving on with their day. The stories of women within the statistics do not exist. Without these lived experiences, we become desensitized to the horrors many of these women faced and who still live with the consequences of the violence. Although the following stories are not based on true events, these stories reflect the lives of millions of women across the globe.

Olivia’s Story — IPV

Olivia is a new mom, just married to her husband a year ago. She thought the honeymoon phase would last forever–despite what she had been told by friends and family. What she never expected? Bruises, marks, and sore body parts she’d have to hide or disguise as an accident.

“Tripped over baby toys. I’m such a klutz!” she would laugh to her best friend of 15 years, who’d noticed bruising on her arms and ribs. Olivia never once raised her voice to her husband or child. She never fought back or provoked her husband. Olivia didn’t dress immodestly going out of the house. She never left her husband or child. All things that might be asked of her by others or in court. Her husband? A powerful lawyer with deep connections.

Like so many other women in committed, abusive relationships, she’d convinced herself that the slaps and pushes were one-offs since he would always apologize and promise to never hurt her again. He’d also never laid a hand on their child. Unlike many women, Olivia and her child were able to escape the situation with the aid of her family, leaving behind a house full of nightmares, torment, and stained memories.

So many women are unable to leave their abusive partners, whether out of fear of death, harm toward others, or a multitude of other reasons. Instead of blaming the victims–asking, “Why didn’t you leave when you had the chance?”–or counting them as another statistic, we must listen to their stories. Recognize that these situations can happen to any woman. Do not dismiss them as another number.

Ember’s Story — teen IPV & sexual violence

A junior in high school, Ember met her boyfriend as an incoming freshman, both starting at a new school and finding their passion for science in common. They’d quickly become known as the couple who’d stay together forever as high school sweethearts, their fondness and love for each other apparent to their classmates.

Ember’s boyfriend had never been aggressive with her, never raised his voice at her, never pushed her to do anything she did not want to. During a study session together one night at her boyfriend’s house, he’d seemed more irritable than Ember had ever seen before. Each time she asked if he was okay, her boyfriend grew more snappish. Rather than giving her an answer, he stood up and yanked her off the bed, demanding she’d tell him why she wouldn’t have sex with him after almost two years together. Though she had made her intentions and beliefs about sex before marriage clear at the start of their relationship, he had the idea in his head that she would eventually give in, unbeknownst to Ember throughout their long-term relationship. Ember repeated her personal values to him, but her boyfriend wouldn’t take “No” for an answer.

In the aftermath of this traumatic, life-altering experience for Ember, she’d been the victim of not only physical and sexual violence from her now ex-boyfriend but also ridicule from her peers, who wouldn’t believe he had committed such a heinous act. Though Ember was able to seek therapy and start her healing journey, many teen girls do not have the ability or means to get the help they need and deserve. Their stories are just as important as Ember’s and Olivia’s.

Aaliyah’s Story — child marriage

Aaliyah grew up knowing what her future would look like: married before the age of 16, serving her husband unconditionally, and providing him with numerous children–just as her mother and grandmother had done. Culturally and religiously, this practice of child marriage was normalized and expected of girls in Aaliyah’s community. Even if the man chosen for her was 30 years older, she had no choice in the matter. At the age of 14, she was married in a traditional ceremony to a man 15 years her senior. Her husband, the man who helped groom her alongside her parents and community, was an established member of their church and expected Aaliyah to completely submit to him.

Following the death of her husband and escape from her village almost half a century later, Aaliyah hopes more girls and women are able to break free of this culture which forces girls into a form of slavery. She continues to advocate for the banning of child marriage in her home country after witnessing countless other girls face the same fate she did so long ago.

While the premise of the preceding stories are fictional, many details reflect the truths that women have experienced since the creation of the patriarchy. The facts at the beginning of this essay are true, but they do not capture the trauma, memories, and lived experiences of the women who fall into the statistics. The stories of women who have survived violence, and those who have not, show the humanity within the numbers and categories.

However, until society completely views women as humans — and not just subjects of men — violence against women will not cease.

References:

About intimate partner violence. (2026, February 11). CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/intimate-partner-violence/about/index.html

Ending violence against women. (n.d.). UN Women. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women

Female genital mutilation (FGM). (2022). UNICEF. https://data.unicef.org/topic/gender/fgm/

Gender equality: Child marriage. (2022). UNICEF. https://data.unicef.org/topic/gender/child-marriage/

Gender equality: Intimate partner violence. (2022). UNICEF. https://data.unicef.org/topic/gender/intimate-partner-violence/

Art in collage:

Irresistible: Sue Williams (1992)

Breaking Free: Magali Trapero

When to say When: Delaney George

The Rape of the Sabine Women: Peter Paul Rubens (c. 1630s)

The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus: Peter Paul Rubens (1618)

SA’s Dirty Laundry: Jenny Nijenhuis and Nondumiso Msimanga (2016)

Rapture: Kiki Smith (2001)

Retracing the Trace: Luzene Hill (2012)

I want to know about Her, Her, Her: Lady Skollie (2016)

The Domestic Violence Projects: Peggy Diggs (1991–92)

The REDress Project: Jaime Black