Gender-based violence rates remain alarmingly high, says IJM

9 September 2026, 11:54 am

By Collins Ainomugisha

Violence against women and children remains disturbingly widespread, with more than half of women globally experiencing intimate partner violence, while only a fraction of abuse cases ever reach the justice system, the International Justice Mission (IJM) has revealed.

Speaking during a media training session held at Nyaika Hotel in Fort Portal City, IJM Communications Manager Joseph Kariuki highlighted the scale of the crisis.

According to global data he presented, intimate partner violence stands at 55%, while 30% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence and domestic violence within the past 12 months alone.

The situation is equally dire for children, Kariuki said, with sexual violence and abuse against children standing at 58% globally, a figure he described as a pressing concern requiring urgent and coordinated action.

He also noted that only 12% of violence cases against women and children ever reach the justice system, leaving the vast majority of survivors without legal recourse or protection.

Kariuki attributed the low rate of access to justice to a combination of factors, including widespread poverty, chronic delays within the justice system and entrenched cultural beliefs that often discourage survivors from reporting abuse or seeking help.

The statistics were shared as part of a broader push by IJM, a global organisation that protects vulnerable people from violence, to train media practitioners in the Rwenzori region on sensitive and professional reporting of violence against women and children.

IJM used the occasion to call for urgent action on multiple fronts, including community education to challenge harmful cultural norms, stronger engagement with local authorities to support survivor restoration, and reforms to strengthen justice systems and close the wide gap between incidents of violence and access to justice.