One in four adolescent girls globally experience physical violence, says a United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) report. The data reveals damaging perceptions on the acceptability of violence, particularly among girls.

Globally, nearly half of girls aged 15 to 19 believe a man is justified in beating his wife or partner under certain circumstances such as refusing to have sex, leaving the house without permission, arguing, neglecting the children or burning dinner.

“These numbers speak to a mind-set that tolerates, perpetuates, and even justifies violence — and should sound an alarm to everyone, everywhere,” said Unicef deputy executive director Geeta Rao Gupta.

Despite new legislation and proactive policies such as quotas, the report shows that the world is failing to deliver on equality between girls and boys.

The Unicef report was launched to coincide with the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11. It sought to identify actions that could address unequal power relations. It also investigated whether power always protects the status quo or whether it can be a force for positive change.

While the report acknowledged substantial progress, it warned that “warm words” on equality sometimes mask the reality that girls and women face barriers to the exercise of real power at home, at work and in politics.

“We shouldn’t let the notion that we are now on some irreversible path to equality creep in. Scratch the surface, and across the world you’ll find that girls’ and women’s pathways to power remain blocked,” said the report.

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The report said a “curriculum of chores” still held girls back at home, while women and girls remain disproportionately affected by domestic violence. It pointed out that women make up just 22 per cent of parliamentarians, while just 19 states have female leaders.

Unicef points to specific actions to prevent violence against girls. They include: Keeping girls in school; providing them with critical life skills; supporting parents, including with cash transfers to mitigate risks to girls; changing attitudes and norms through community conversations; and strengthening judicial, criminal and social systems and services.