UNITED NATIONS: After a two-week mission to the United Kingdom, an independent United Nations human rights expert called on the British authorities to establish a more comprehensive and targeted response to the scourge of violence against women.

In a statement released here, the UN special Rapporteur Rashida Manjoo observed that the UK had made the issue of violence against women a priority and there had been “many positive developments”, including a strategy to address the problem.

“But a more comprehensive and targeted response to address acts of violence against women and girls is needed,” stated Ms Manjoo who has been charged by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor, report and advise on violence against women, its causes and consequences.

In a news release issued at the end of her 16-day mission to the UK, the expert pointed out that in the course of last year, 7 per cent of women in England and Wales reported having experienced any type of domestic abuse – equivalent to 1.2 million female victims.

It is also estimated that 2.5 per cent of women reported having experienced any type of sexual assaults – equivalent to an estimated 400,000 female victims.

Other manifestations of violence which were reported throughout her visit included sexual harassment, gender-based bullying, forced and/or early marriages, female genital mutilation, gang-related violence, so called honour- related violence, and trafficking.

Women’s organisations in the UK informed the Special Rapporteur that black and minority ethnic and migrant women experienced a disproportionate rate of domestic homicide, and that women of Asian origin were up to three times more likely to commit suicide than other women as a result of violence.