Incest, coerced pregnancy, mass rape, ethnic cleansing, forced prostitution, date rape, marital rape, gang rape, rape in conflict situations and rape as a weapon of war- are not about violent sex but power or sexual violence. That one out of every five women is a survivor of rape constitutes the prevalence of rape globally, and 40-60 per cent of known sexual assaults are committed against girls aged 15 years and younger. The reality and fear of rape affects women and girls throughout their lives: gender violence – violence perpetrated against women and girls because they are female – can occur when they are a mere infant, girl, adolescent, woman of reproductive age to that of an elderly woman.
Yet to what extent would the recognition of the health impacts of rape serve as a preventive, not merely curative measure in lobbying towards a zero tolerance of gender violence at state and grassroots levels?
