Co-Authored with guest blogger Alys Willman.

On International Women’s Day, as we reflect on progress toward gender equality, there is cause for some celebration. In several important ways, women’s lives are changing for the better. There have no doubt been gains in women’s empowerment - such as increasing life expectancy, declining fertility rates and a growing number of girls enrolled in primary school.
But in many other ways women around the world remain vulnerable in a fundamental way- to the risk of violence and abuse.
- Up to 70 per cent of women experience violence in their lifetime, according to country data available.
- More than 1 in 3 women around the world have been subject to violence- including non-partner sexual violence and violence and committed in their own homes, by people they know.
- Women aged 15-44 are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, car accidents, war and malaria .
Despite all our gains, women worldwide are still vulnerable to being attacked, raped, brutalized, abused, trafficked and killed. The subjugation and humiliation of women goes on.
Continue reading Women: Healthier, Better Educated, but Not Safe from Violence