Even women often view a certain amount of physical abuse as justified under certain conditions. In a study in Ghana, close to half of all women and 43 per cent of men said a man was justified in beating his wife if she used a family planning method without his expressed consent. Justification for violence stems from gender norms - distorted views about the roles and responsibilities of men and women in relationships. Worldwide, studies have shown a consistent pattern of events that trigger violent responses. In South Africa, the incidence of rape is thought to be the highest in the world.
Rape victims are especially at risk of infection.
Up to 30 per cent of women raped in the United States every year, for instance, develop an sexually transmitted disease as a result. Molestation of young girls is another profoundly disturbing aspect of this problem. A study in Zaria, Nigeria, for example, found that 16 per cent of hospital patients with sexually transmitted infections were under age 5. At the Genito-Urinary Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, doctors discovered that more than 900 children under age 12 had been treated for a sexually transmitted disease in 1990 alone. Physical and sexual abuse also increases a woman's risk for a number of common gynaecological disorders, including chronic pelvic pain.