These 20 Countries Have No Law Against Domestic Violence.....Nearly 40 percent of all murders of women worldwide are carried out by an intimate partner, according to the World Health Organization.... 1 in 3 women across the globe has experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of her partner....And in the United States, some 1.3 million women are assaulted by their partner each year, according to CDC statistics.

It is a startling fact that one of the most dangerous places for a woman is her own home.

World Health Organization

Nearly 40 percent of all murders of women worldwide are carried out by an intimate partner, according to the World Health Organization. One in three women across the globe has experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of her partner. And in the United States, some 1.3 million women are assaulted by their partner each year, according to CDC statistics.

A Woman in Niger digs a ditch to
collect to collect rainwater on
May 28, 2012

Despite the prevalence of violence against women in their own homes, dozens of countries around the world do not have specific laws against domestic violence. For example Kenya has no provision to outlaw domestic abuse and according to the U.S. State Department, police in the country generally refrain from investigating cases of domestic violence, treating it as a private family matter. In Lebanon, debate rumbles on about finally passing a law to criminalize domestic violence, after a series of horrendous abuse cases hit the country's headlines this year.

Liesl Gerntholtz, Executive Director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, explained to The WorldPost why it has been so important for countries to adopt specific legislation that targets domestic abuse. Gerntholtz pointed out that while ordinary criminal law does outlaw violence, and therefore domestic abuse should be treated as a crime, the issue has historically been ignored by governments and underreported by women. "Because the violence is so invisible you needed laws to enroll judges, police and other authorities to look for it and prosecute it," she said.

"Violence against women is frighteningly simple and complex. Violence will stop when perpetrators stop," she added. more