It is a devastating fact of life that violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread - and persistent - human rights violations in the world today.

In the UN’s most recent report, almost one in five women between the ages of 15 and 49 said they had experienced physical and/or sexual violence inflicted by an intimate partner in the past year. And in 2012, almost half of the female victims of intentional homicide worldwide were murdered by either an intimate partner or family member.

Based on data collected from 87 countries between 2005 and 2016, the report shines a light on the horrifying extent of gender-based violence across the globe. One of the most vital tools in the fight against such violence is undoubtedly awareness and, to this end, UNiTE (a branch of the UN) will be leading a worldwide campaign of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence from 25 November to 10 December.

Bookended by the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November and Human Rights Day on 10 December, the campaign’s theme is “Leave No One Behind: End Violence against Women and Girls”, with the theme colour of orange being used to light up landmarks and buildings around the world and bring attention to the cause.

To mark the campaign, stylist.co.uk is publishing a series of photographs shared exclusively from the United Nations reproductive health and rights agency, UNFPA. Featuring images of objects relating to real-life incidences of gender-based violence from around the world, accompanied by captions from the photographer, the haunting photographs show just how far we have to go in the fight to eliminate violence against women and girls.

Please note: the following images are graphic and might be difficult to look at.

Haunting images capture the extent of gender-based violence around the globe