United Nations, Feb 28 (UNI) A new study by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has shown that community-based interventions aimed at halting violence against women can yield significant results, the agency said.

Rape in Mauritania, domestic violence in Mexico and Romania, child marriage in Bangladesh and female genital mutilation or cutting in Kenya are just a few of the abuses explored in ''Programming to Address Violence Against Women'', which offers ten case studies that show how carefully targeted and planned interventions can actually reduce gender-based violence, the agency said in the study released on Monday.

''What is unusual about this manual is that we have actually demonstrated how entire communities can change their attitudes to violence against women as a result of a few, specifically targeted interventions,'' UNFPA Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid said in a statement.

''In many of these cases, the extent of violence against women was so prevalent and so entrenched that it first seemed impossible to budge the prevailing mindset,'' the director said.

She further added, ''What we learnt is that persistent advocacy targeting community leaders and the larger public can bring about huge changes in a relatively short time.'' The lessons from the ten case studies are distilled in a booklet named Ending Violence Against Women: Programming for Prevention, Protection and Care, as well as an online multimedia exhibit.

''Communities can and will change, but the dire consequences associated with gender-based violence constitute a human emergency that requires global and local action,'' she emphasised.

UNI