1 in 3 women experience sexual violence globally: UN

By Dilara Zengin

ANKARA

One in three women globally -- and more than two-thirds in some countries -- have experienced physical or sexual violence inflicted by an intimate partner or a non-partner, according to the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) latest Human Development Report.

"Gender inequality and the lack of women's empowerment is a challenge to global progress across all regions and groups," the UN’s lead development agency said in its latest report on Tuesday.

The report measured Gender Inequality Index, which reflects gender-based inequalities in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and economic activity.

It called for "enhancing opportunities for women through investing in girls and women, facilitating work by women outside the home and reducing the domestic work burden on women, encouraging female entrepreneurship, shattering the glass ceiling."

Turkey ranks 69

Turkey's value in the Gender Inequality Index stood at 0.328 and it ranked 69 out of 159 countries in 2015.

In the country, 14.9 percent of parliamentary seats are held by women and female participation in the labor market is 30.4 percent compared with 71.4 for men, according to figures in the report.

The report revealed that 43.5 percent of adult women have reached at least a secondary level of education compared with 64.8 percent of their male counterparts.

"For every 100,000 live births, 16 women die from pregnancy-related causes and the adolescent birth rate is 27.6 births per 1,000 women of ages 15-19," it said.

Human development on the rise

Every region’s Human Development Index (HDI) value has increased considerably between 1990 and 2015, although progress has been slowing down since 2010, the report said.

Despite the overall progress, the HDI showed that one in three people live in low levels of human development.

According to the 2016 Human Development Report, Turkey’s HDI value for 2015 stood at 0.767 and it positioned the country at 71 out of 188 countries, under the high human development category. Turkey shared its rank with Venezuela.

The Human Development Index is a summary measure for assessing progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living.

"Turkey’s 2015 Human Development Index of 0.767 is above the average of 0.746 for countries in the high human development group and above the average of 0.756 for countries in Europe and Central Asia," the report said.

Between 1990 and 2015, Turkey's HDI value increased from 0.576 to 0.767, according to the figures.

In the same period, Turkey's life expectancy at birth increased by 11.2 years, average years of schooling by 3.4 years and expected years of schooling by 5.7 years.

Surge in national income

Turkey’s Gross National Income per capita also surged by about 78.2 percent between 1990 and 2015.

Irena Vojackova-Sollorano, United Nations resident coordinator and UNDP resident representative in Turkey, said the report's findings showed Turkey’s "great performance" over the last decades.

"As in the past, UNDP is ready to support the government to maintain the positive development trend focusing on leaving none behind and reduction of inequalities," Vojackova-Sollorano added.

Turkey’s HDI trends data: