More measures are available on our expanded infographic of rape in Asia

THE Delhi rape and murder brought attention to violence against women in India. But the situation in neighbouring countries is none too bright, according to new research in the Lancet Global Health, a medical journal. More than one in ten men surveyed in six Asian countries said they had raped a woman who was not their partner—and that figure rose to nearly one in four when wives and girlfriends were included among the victims. For the study, part of a UN project, researchers surveyed more than 10,000 men aged 18-49 in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka. The men were asked (by male interviewers) not about “rape”; rather, they were asked if they had “forced a woman...to have sex”. The answer varied, for non-partners, from 4% in Bangladesh to a staggering 41% in Papua New Guinea. More than one in seven rapists committed their first rape when they were younger than 15. More than half did so before the age of 20. Only 55% reported feeling guilty; less than one-quarter went to prison.