Every 10 minutes, partners and family members killed a woman intentionally in 2024 and that trend is growing, according to the UN.
The latest report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women, released on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women shows that femicide is rising around the world.
The report found that in 2024, around 80,000 women and girls worldwide were killed intentionally by their intimate partners or other family members, including fathers, mothers, uncles and brothers.
The figure represents an average of 137 women or girls every day.
One in four women journalists globally and a third of women parliamentarians in Asia-Pacific have received online death threats, the report found.
In 2024, Africa recorded the largest numbers of female intimate partner and family-related killings with an estimated 22,600 victims (three victims per 100,000).
Current and former intimate partners are by far the most likely perpetrators of femicide, accounting for an average of 60 per cent of all family-related killings.
The UN said gender-related killings, known as femicide, are the most brutal and extreme manifestation of violence against women and girls.
Femicide is an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation.
It is different from homicide, where the motivation may not be gender-related.
Femicide is driven by discrimination against women and girls, unequal power relations, gender stereotypes or harmful social norms.
It can occur at home, in workplaces, schools or public and online spaces.
It can be caused by intimate partner violence, sexual harassment and violence, harmful practices and trafficking.
Gender-related killings take place in many contexts beyond the private sphere.
They can be related to rape or sexual violence by someone unknown to the victim.
Femicide can be linked to harmful practices such as female genital mutilation or so-called honour killings or the result of hate crimes linked to sexual orientation or gender identity.
It is often connected with armed conflict, gangs, human trafficking and other forms of organsed crime.
Femicide is a global crisis that affects women and girls in every country.
UN Women says the numbers are “alarmingly high” but has warned that the true scale of femicide “is likely much higher” due to under-reporting.
Women in public life, including politicians, journalists and human rights and environmental defenders, face escalating violence both online and offline.
Technology-facilitated violence, such as cyberstalking, coercive control and image-based abuse, can escalate offline and in some cases, leads to femicide.
The deaths of 81 women environmental defenders and 34 women human rights defenders were reported in 2022.
Indigenous women also face disproportionate risks and transgender women face rising targeted killings worldwide.
An increase in femicide is being driven by persistent gender inequality, discrimination norms, and escalating violence in conflict and displacement settings.
Limited accountability, weak protection systems and online harassment further heighten risks.
Crises, economic insecurity and shrinking civic spaces also intensify lethal violence against women and girls.
The UN works to prevent femicide by strengthening legal frameworks, supporting survivor-centred services and improving the gathering of data.
It assists states in prevention strategies, trains law enforcement agencies and monitors violations and supports public campaigns that challenge harmful norms.
Goal 5 of the globally-agreed Sustainable Development Goals, which relates to gender equality, is a core international instrument which addresses gender-based violence.
The other core international instrument, which addresses gender-based violence is The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by UN Member States.
