SIXTY-SIX per cent of women have suffered abuse from a male partner, according to studies.
They show 30 per cent suffered repeated abuse and 42 per cent had been assaulted during pregnancy.
The regional office of the United Nations Development Fund for Women said violence against women occurred all over the world and was a severe and pervasive development and human rights issue in most Pacific Island countries yet most cases of sexual violence were not reported.
The office said violence committed upon women by their intimate partners were increasingly well-documented through comprehensive national baseline studies.
The office marked yesterday's start of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence with calls to end violence against women and children.
During the 16 Days, UN banners proclaim a united commitment to end violence against women.
The Fiji Women's Crisis Centre in Nadi reported earlier it received 143 new domestic violence cases in the first three quarters of the year.
Centre councillor Reshmi Singh said the statistics were compiled from January to September.
She said the new cases were different from repeat clients that the centre counselled.
She said the new cases included two rape cases and six child abuse cases, six sexual harassment case and 66 offences of other nature.
Ms Singh said of the repeat clients for the same period, 135 were domestic violence, eight were rape.
There were no figures for repeat cases of child abuse and sexual harassment.
According to the UN agency, recent national studies indicated that 64 per cent of women in the Solomon Islands and 68 per cent of women in Kiribati experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner.
Studies also indicated in Samoa 24 per cent of women experienced severe physical violence by intimate partners and 62 per cent of women older than 15 years experienced non-partner violence.
It said surveys had shown that 87 per cent of women in the Marshall Islands had been victims of physical violence.
It said in Papua New Guinea there was evidence of high levels of sexual violence committed against women and girls, worsening in situations of conflicts and disasters.
It said torture and killing of women suspected of sorcery occurred at alarming rates in the PNG Highlands region.
