UN survey of men in Asia-Pacific reveals high levels of sexual violence in region

UN News Center

10 September 2013 – The most common motivation of some men who have admitted to rape is the belief that they are entitled to sex even without the female partner’s consent, according to a newly released United Nations study of some Asia and Pacific countries, which urges greater measures to end impunity for men who use violence against women and girls.

According to the survey of 10,000 men at nine sites, nearly half reported using physical and or sexual violence against a female partner, and nearly a quarter admitted to having raped.

“The study’s findings reaffirm that violence against women is an expression of women’s subordination and inequality in the private and public spheres,” according to a joint news release by a coalition of the survey’s authors: UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Women and United Nations Volunteers (UNV).The study’s findings reaffirm that violence against women is an expression of women’s subordination and inequality in the private and public spheres.

The findings show how men’s use of violence against women is associated with men’s personal histories and practices, within a broader context of structural inequalities.

According to the men surveyed, rape was particularly common within relationships, but one in 10 men admitted to raping a woman who was not their partner.

Half of those who admitted to rape reported their first time was when they were teenagers. Some 23 per cent of the men who had admitted to rape in Papua New Guinea and 16 per cent in Cambodia were 14 years or younger when they first perpetrated rape.

In addition, four per cent of the people asked said they had perpetrated gang rape against a woman or girl.

Of the men who had committed rape, 72 to 97 per cent were never punished, “confirming that impunity remains a serious issue in the region,” according to the survey in nine sites across Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka.

The study, entitled Why Do Some Men Use Violence against Women and How Can We Prevent It? Quantitative Findings from the UN Multi-country Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific, was conducted by Partners for Prevention, a regional joint programme of UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women and UNV programme in Asia and the Pacific.