The WHO says many of those battered do not report the crime, with some of them being victimized while pregnant, reports Reuters.
The United Nations agency says the hidden problem leaves physically or sexually-abused women more likely to suffer longer-term health problems such as distress and suicide attempts.
It is calling for education programs and training for health workers and police to investigate signs of mistreatment.
"Women are more at risk from violence involving people they know at home than from strangers in the street. There is a feeling that the home is a safe haven and that pregnancy is a very protected period, but that is not the case," WHO's director-general Lee Jong-Wook says.
"Domestic violence remains largely hidden," he adds.
The "Women's Health and Domestic Violence Against Women" study says that husbands or intimate partners are the main perpetrators.
Based on interviews with more than 24,000 women in 10 countries, the study describes women with broken bones, bruises, burns, cracked skulls, dislocated jaws, rape and fear.
