Gender-based violence (GBV) is still highly prevalent. Globally, nearly 1 in 3 women will experience violence in their lifetime. Yet all too often, women stay silent and do not seek assistance from formal systems or individuals in authority positions. Let’s take a look at where women do feel they can turn for help.

One in three women above the age of 15 across the world have experienced violence. This phenomenon is not new, but now there is better data to understand the full magnitude of such violence. New estimates for intimate partner violence against women and for non-partner sexual violence against women, reveal regional and age disparities, while pointing to the global scale of the problem.

Adolescent fertility is widely recognized as having significant consequences for young women. Early child-bearing is associated with lower schooling levels, child marriage, and worse labor market outcomes for young women. Despite these implications and notwithstanding downward trends in several countries, in many parts of the world, rates of adolescent fertility remain persistently high.

Across the globe, women face inferior income opportunities compared with men. When women do work, they are less likely to work for income and in most cases they earn less than men. Even though more than half of all women (ages 15-64) participate in the labor market globally and regionally, there are sizeable regional and national variations in the levels and trends of female labor force participation.

Providing equal rights to women and men is fundamental to achieving gender equality. On a broad set of legal rights, the average woman today is afforded only three-quarters of the rights the average man enjoys.

Even after getting their education, women in many countries still face barriers throughout their working lives. Data from the World Bank's Women, Business, and the Law identify these legal barriers and the magnitude of the economic cost.