Worldwide Victim Statistics and Trends
In 2024, approximately 50,000 women and girls fell victim to femicide, according to a recent report by the United Nations. The organization stated that this figure indicates that 60 percent of the 83,000 women and girls murdered last year lost their lives at the hands of intimate partners or other family members, averaging 137 murders daily. The report, published jointly by UN Women and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), notes that this number is slightly lower than the estimated 51,100 victims for 2023. However, it emphasizes that this discrepancy largely results from variations in data availability across different countries, and does not necessarily imply a real decrease in femicide incidents.
Regional Variations and Data Limitations
The report underlines that gender-based violence affecting women and girls remains an ongoing issue in all regions, with no area exempt. Africa leads with an estimated 22,600 femicide victims, mainly at the hands of partners and family members. Nevertheless, this figure is subject to uncertainty due to insufficient data collection in the region.
On a per capita basis, Africa records three femicides per 100,000 women, making it the most affected continent. The Americas and Oceania also report relatively high rates, with 1.5 and 1.4 femicides per 100,000 women, respectively. In contrast, Asia and Europe see significantly lower numbers, at 0.7 and 0.5 per 100,000. However, the report highlights that data on femicide beyond domestic contexts remain limited worldwide, despite some countries beginning to measure other forms of gender-related killing, not solely those committed within families or by partners.
This scarcity of comprehensive data hampers precise estimation of these crimes’ scope, and makes it challenging to analyze long-term trends outside the Americas and Europe, where available data allow for some observation. In the Americas, femicide rates have remained relatively stable from 2010 to 2024, while in Europe, they have decreased gradually, especially in northern, eastern, and southern countries.
Feminicide in the Private Sphere
The report notes that in Europe and the Americas, most murders of women in private settings are committed by intimate partners. In 2024, such cases accounted for 64 percent of femicides in Europe and 69 percent in the Americas. This underscores the importance of prevention programs that target domestic violence and focus on relationships and family environments where women are most vulnerable.
Although many countries publish statistics on femicide committed by partners or relatives, fewer disseminate data on killings outside the domestic sphere. The report states that the home remains the most dangerous place for women and girls, whereas for men, most homicides occur outside their homes.
Globally, around 11.2 percent of men killed in 2024 were murdered by a partner or family member, whereas this figure rises to 60 percent for women.
Cumulative and Structural Nature of Femicide
UN Women and UNODC emphasize that femicides often do not occur as isolated incidents but are the culmination of pre-existing gender violence, affecting all regions and countries. An estimated 25.8 percent of women aged between 15 and 49 years—roughly one in four—have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once from a current or former partner during their lifetime.
The underlying reasons behind these crimes lie in social norms and stereotypes that subordinate women to men, together with discrimination, inequality, and power imbalances between genders.
Calls for Policy and Preventive Measures
The report advocates for targeted policies to effectively prevent femicides, recognizing that different forms of gender violence require specific approaches. While some countries have taken measures to curb femicide, the persistence of high homicide rates reveals ongoing gaps.
Research indicates that murders by intimate partners are often linked to factors such as a history of prior violence or non-lethal strangulation, stalking, relationship breakups, and substance abuse—including alcohol. These risk factors are compounded by weaker social support networks and stressful life events.
Over recent decades, different strategies have been implemented to combat femicide. These include primary prevention efforts aimed at changing attitudes and behaviors among women, men, and youth. Educational tools—like courses that teach relationship skills and clarify societal roles—are fundamental components of these initiatives.
Legal responses vary across countries: some criminalize femicide explicitly, others consider it an aggravating circumstance, and some have established specialized units within security forces, prosecutors’ offices, and courts to handle these cases more effectively.
Public awareness campaigns, such as ‘Ni una menos’ and ‘Me Too,’ have promoted greater recognition of gender-based violence. Efforts are also underway to improve documentation, allowing better tracking of incidence patterns and informing future policies at both national and international levels.
