More than half of all teenage girls in Pakistan believe domestic violence is justified, report reveals

The girls said that 'refusing sex' would be a valid reason for a man to beat his wife

More than 30 per cent of girls between 15 and 19 have experienced physical or sexual violence in Pakistan (AFP)

A report carried out by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has revealed that troublingly, more than half of all teenage girls in Pakistan believe that domestic violence is justified for at least one reason.

Refusing sex was just one of the reasons girls aged between 15 and 19 believed a husband would be justified in beating his wife, while more than 30 per cent of girls of the same age had already experienced physical or sexual violence in Pakistan.

The report, entitled ‘Sexual and Reproductive Health of Young People in Asia and the Pacific’, also included data from Cambodia, India, Bangladesh and Nepal which revealed similar attitudes about violence against women among teenage boys, the Express Tribune reported.

Between 25 and 51 per cent said that wife beating was justified.

It was discovered that factors such as low education, unemployment and family history of violence were linked to acceptance of violence in the home.

Pakistan was also revealed as one of the countries where the greatest number of adolescents aged between 10 and 19 live with HIV.

India (120,000) has the largest population of HIV-positive adolescents followed by Indonesia (46,000), Thailand (11,000), Myanmar (7,700), Pakistan (7,000), Cambodia (3,500), Iran (3,200), Viet Nam (2,600) and Nepal (1,200).

And when it comes to awareness of sexual health, only 28 per cent of young men aged between 15 and 24 in Pakistan, and less than half of 15 and 24-year-old girls know that condoms can prevent HIV.