Every 10 minutes, partners and family members killed a woman intentionally in 2023.
Violence against women and girls is the most pervasive human rights violation.
Femicide (or feminicide, as it is referred to in some contexts) is defined as 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 is the most extreme and brutal manifestation of violence against women and girls which occurs on a continuum of multiple and related forms of violence, at home, in workplaces, schools or public spaces, including intimate partner violence, sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence, harmful practices and trafficking.
Gender-related killings (femicide/feminicide) are the most brutal and extreme manifestation of violence against women and girls.
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 and the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, shows that femicide is rising around the world. While there has been growing awareness and public outcry against these killings, much more needs to be done to prevent violence against women, stop its escalation, provide adequate services to survivors and punish perpetrators.
The highest number of victims of intimate partner/family member femicide was recorded in Africa in 2023 with 21,700 (18,600–24,600) victims, followed by Asia with 18,500 (16,200–20,700), the Americas with 8,300 (8,100–8,500), Europe with 2,300 (2,100–2,400) and Oceania with 300 (282–420) victims.
In many cases, only gender-related killings perpetrated by an intimate partner or family member are counted as femicides—yet we know that 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; linked to harmful practices such as female genital mutilation or so-called honor killings; a result of hate crimes linked to sexual orientation or gender identity; or connected with armed conflict, gangs, human trafficking and other forms of organized crime.
This year recorded the highest number of femicides perpetrated by intimate partners or family members, indicating that the world is failing to stop deaths that could be prevented through early intervention, gender-responsive policing and justice, and access to survivor-centered support and protection.
“The research brief this year marks a pivotal anniversary — 25 years since the adoption of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 54/134, which established 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This day commemorates the brutal assassination of the Mirabal sisters in the Dominican Republic on 25 November 1960, whose activism and sacrifice galvanized global attention towards efforts to end violence inflicted upon women and girls due to their gender.
More than two decades later, and despite the efforts of women’s rights movements to demand justice and accountability, as well as some notable progress in preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, significant challenges persist in fully addressing the issue. We are alarmed that the number of killings by family members and intimate partners – the most common manifestation of femicide – remains at staggering levels globally. Some 51,100 women and girls were killed at home by people closely related to them in 2023, accounting for 60 per cent of all female homicides. In too many cases, victims of femicide had previously reported violence and their killings could have been prevented.
This research brief also reveals a highly worrying trend indicating that attention to the problem of femicide may have waned in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, the number of countries reporting or publishing data on the killing of women by intimate partners or other family members has decreased by 50 per cent. Yet, more and better data are needed for a deeper understanding of the issue and its magnitude, and in order to develop and implement more effective prevention and response strategies. The UNODC-UN Women Statistical framework for measuring gender-related killings provides detailed guidance for producing comprehensive data on femicide.
With the clock ticking towards 2030, the target date for the Sustainable Development Goals, and as the global community approaches the 30th anniversary review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, we urgently need to accelerate progress towards gender equality and eradicating violence against women and girls. The time has come to request more accountability, more funding, and a renewed dedication to safeguarding and advancing the rights of all women and girls, in every place and in all their diversity. UN Women and UNODC remain committed to supporting Member States to end violence against women and girls and achieving justice for every victim.
Impunity must end and perpetrators must be held accountable.”
Ghada Waly, Executive Director,
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Sima Bahous,
Executive Director, UN Women