A new investigation by Algeria’s National Health Institute revealed that one in ten women are experiencing violence at least six times per year.
The results of the investigation showed that 69 percent of the attackers are educated males with an average age of 37 years, suggesting that “education is not preventive when it comes to violence.”
The figures showed that over a third of the aggressors are jobless, citing unemployment as a “factor” that increases the risk of violence against women.
Experts at the National Health Institutes said the victims of violence are relatively young women, with an average age of 35 years, and they are educated in 65 percent of cases.
The one-year probe included five provinces (out of 58) and involved samples with characteristic usually common among violence victims.
Experts examined 3,647 cases (women) and found that violence against women is more common in large cities (60 percent in Algiers, the capital, and 27 percent in Wahran).
The findings showed that 33 percent of the female victims were between 25 and 34 years, and that 66 percent of the victims are married, 21 percent are single, five percent are divorced, and three percent are widowers.
Among the victims, 22 percent have a medium education level, 10 percent finished primary school, and eight percent never went to school.
The figures showed that the husband is the attacker in 55 percent of the cases, the brother in four percent of the cases, and the neighbors in eight percent of the cases.
According to the investigation, the physical violence is the most common among the victims (98 percent) featuring beating and deliberate injuries, followed by emotional violence (five percent), and sexual violence (three percent).
Investigators said women victims of emotional and sexual violence rarely report what they are going through. On the other hand, the probe reported that violence victims do not receive the required support, and that the number of women who benefitted from mental healthcare is so small despite the repercussions that violence leaves on women. In most cases, the victims receive a report that exempt them from work and physical activity for six days.
Investigators have recommended victims to request a medical report that proves and describes the violence they were subject to.
The report allows the judge to assess the damages, the level of the attack, and determine the measures that should be taken against the attacker. However, in three percent of violence cases, the victim doesn’t request the report, the investigation found.
