Aggression and violence can arise from several reasons, often from a primary hatred towards someone other than the attacker. These attacks can fall into several categories, such as aggression towards a homosexual through homophobia, aggression towards a member of the other race through racism and violence towards the other sex through misogyny or misandry. It is, however, recognized that when it comes to gender-based attacks, their fury “disproportionately victimizes women and girls” (MacKinnon). The term “violence against women” was created to fit this definition, a phrase recognized in recent years as a global problem. A more formal definition created by the United Nations (UN) states that violence against women is "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private life,” (“Fact”). The World Health Organization (WHO) has found that up to 35% of all women worldwide have experienced some form of violence, sexual or otherwise, and that while 38% of women murdered were murdered by a intimate partner, only 6% of men's murders were committed by their counterpart ("Fact") ("Violence"). The United Nations (UN) established the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) under which general recommendation no. Article 19 states that participating countries should ensure that laws mandating violence against women provide adequate protection to victims and ensure that there are effective methods of legal action and redress. punishment for the perpetrators (Manual, 5). Such international action cannot be ignored and, to put it middle of paper, ...... people have suffered physical or sexual violence during their lives. Many forms of violence against women tend to go unreported, with victims fearing going against their established cultural norms that “propose social norms of appropriate and inappropriate behavior.” (Change). Domestic violence is the root cause of violence against women, and in countries like India, Nigeria, Ghana and China, men have the right to "assert power" over women and punish them when their behavior deviates (Change) (“Violence”). In fact, in South Africa, while violence is considered an acceptable way of dealing with someone in an intimate relationship, the very practice of harming oneself is considered taboo (Change). Overall, the combination of these types of traditional and cultural acceptance of violence against women in these many varied countries shows why it is a global problem..