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The following statement has been issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which is commemorated on 25 November 2010.

“Although precise statistics are not available, since violence against women – especially domestic violence – is a hidden crime, recent figures released by the United Nations suggest that in some countries close to 60 percent of women may be subjected to physical violence at least once in their lifetime. They also make clear that no country, whether rich or poor, dictatorship or democracy, has come close to eliminating violence against women.
“Such figures, important though they are as a reminder of the shocking prevalence of the problem, risk numbing us to the damage each and every act of violence does to a girl or a woman. Numbers mask the personal pain of the individual.
“Sixty percent of a population of ten million women means six million individual private tragedies, physical and psychological scars, dysfunctional families, traumatized children. Six million, sixty million, six hundred million. The numbers are of pandemic proportions – so large that, perversely, they distract us from the plight of the woman next door. (...)

The statement:
http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=2&language_id=1&headline_id=12354

Selected learning materials:
http://www.hrea.org/index.php?doc_id=926
http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/violence/

Basic information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_for_the_Elimination_of_Violence_against_Women
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giornata_internazionale_per_l%27eliminazione_della_violenza_contro_le_donne

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Interview with Margot Wallström, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict:

http://www.un.org/apps/news/newsmakers.asp?NewsID=26