To convince the public that violence against women is a pervasive problem that affects everyone, either directly or indirectly, the issue has become tied to numbers.

If one in a certain number of women has experienced gender-based violence, then the reader must have a proportional number of loved ones who are survivors, if she is not a survivor herself. If a woman from one country is a certain percentage more likely to have been raped, or stalked, or trafficked than a woman from another country, then one society is hostile to women while another is safe.

The truth about violence against women will not come from numbers. They can be illustrative, they can inspire action, they can inform policy, but in the end, they are averages that do not reflect the layers and backstories of such a delicate issue. Rates of gender-based violence are not a competition between states, religions or cultures. All forms will not be eradicated with one piece of legislation or treaty.

Rather than publishing “shocking” figures to prove that the issue exists, teleSUR brings you explanations to dissect how it happens, to whom and why it cannot be contained by a single data point.