Childhood sexual violence: More than one billion people worldwide aged 15 and above are estimated to have experienced sexual violence during childhood, while about 608 million females had been exposed to intimate partner violence as of 2023, according to new estimates published in The Lancet.
The analysis drew on data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2023, a large international effort that tracks health loss and disability across countries and over time. Researchers reported that the highest prevalence of both childhood sexual violence and intimate partner violence was concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where the health effects can be compounded by higher burdens of HIV and other chronic diseases.
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For India, the estimates put the prevalence of intimate partner violence at 23% among women aged 15 and above. The study also estimated that over 30% of women and 13% of men aged 15 and above experienced sexual violence as a child.
Researchers said the findings strengthen evidence that violence is not only a social or criminal justice issue but also a major public health threat, linked to a wider range of long-term health outcomes than previously recognised. Intimate partner violence was associated with significant disability, including mental health conditions such as anxiety and major depressive disorder. Childhood sexual violence was linked to an even broader set of harms, including multiple mental health and substance use disorders as well as chronic illnesses.
The study estimated that intimate partner violence was linked to 145,000 deaths worldwide, driven largely by homicide, suicide and HIV/AIDS, and suggested that nearly 30,000 women were killed by their partners in 2023. Childhood sexual violence was associated with an estimated 290,000 deaths globally in 2023, with suicide, HIV/AIDS and type 2 diabetes listed among leading contributors.
In South Asia, researchers noted that disability patterns differed by gender, with self-harm and schizophrenia featuring prominently among men, while anxiety was a leading cause of disability among women linked to childhood sexual violence.
The authors said the scale of the problem highlights the need for stronger prevention strategies, including improving legal protections, advancing gender equality, and expanding support services for survivors to reduce the long-term health toll of violence. They added that treating violence prevention as a public health priority could save lives, improve mental health outcomes and strengthen community resilience.