This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) released what it described as the first-ever systematic global study into the prevalence of violence against women.

The results were appalling.

According to the study, approximately 35 percent of women across the globe have experienced some type of sexual violence, with the majority of them experiencing it at the hands of their partners.

Not only that, but close to 30 percent of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by their partner.

Disturbingly in some regions it’s nearly as high as 38 percent, which includes places such as India and Thailand, where an estimated 37.7 percent of women can expect to be sexually or physically assaulted by a spouse or their partner.

But it’s not just the countries to the East who partake in this vile behaviour.

According to the WHO, in the United States, Canada, Australia and the EU or “high-income” countries, nearly a quarter of all women suffer violence from an intimate partner.

One of the most harrowing facts to come out of this report was that women who live in the “high-income” countries have the highest likelihood (12.6 percent) of being sexually assaulted by a person who’s not their spouse or partner.

“These findings send a powerful message that violence against women is a global health problem of epidemic proportions,” said WHO’s director-general Dr. Margaret Chan.

“We also see that the world’s health systems can and must do more for women who experience violence.”

The report, Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence, was compiled and produced by the WHO, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the South African Medical Research Council.