The health dimension.

• Author: Turmen, Tomris
• Position: World Health Organization addresses the health issues associated with violence against women

The World Health Organization (WHO) addresses violence against women in the context of women's health. We know that violence against women is a risk factor for many negative health outcomes, for example, injury, depression and other mental problems, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. It may also end in death, through either homicide or suicide. WHO emphasizes the need for a public health approach, focused on prevention, but without neglecting the care which can prevent or reduce ill-health, complications and disability for those suffering from abuse. While the focus of WHO's work is on the role of the health sector both in the prevention of violence and in the provision of care for women who have been abused, we recognize that this is a complex problem that requires action from many sectors and close collaboration between them.

Living in violent relationships affects women's health and lives at all levels, reducing their self-esteem, their capacity to care for their children and their ability to work, to name but a few. In other words, violence against women undermines the basis for sustainable human development, particularly when it occurs in the place where one should feel safest - the home. Moreover, such violence is now widely recognized as a violation of women's basic human rights.

It has taken almost two decades of work and activism from women's organizations to place violence against women firmly on the international agenda, both as a human right and as a public health issue. WHO is working closely with many of these organizations to ensure that health professionals all over the world recognize the importance of addressing violence against women.

The WHO position paper on Women's Health, prepared for the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, included a section on the consequences of violence against women. Following the Conference, WHO accelerated its activities in this area, which aim to identify effective strategies to prevent violence and decrease the health consequences and deaths in women who are suffering abuse.

In early 1996, WHO held an expert consultation in Geneva on violence against women, with researchers, health care providers and women's health advocates, as well as staff from several WHO programmes. The meeting focused on violence against women in families, as this is one of the most prevalent forms of violence against women, together with rape and sexual assault. It reviewed what was...