UN Warns Femicide Rates Remain Stubbornly High Worldwide

UN Warns Femicide Rates Remain Stubbornly High Worldwide
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Every 10 minutes in 2024, a woman died at the hands of a close partner or family member, according to a new United Nations assessment, French newspaper Le Monde reported. A joint report released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women highlights the persistent scale of femicide and the limited progress in preventing it.

Based on data from 117 countries, the study estimates that approximately 50,000 women and girls were killed last year by relatives—equivalent to 137 victims per day. While the total is slightly lower than the figure documented for 2023, researchers cautioned that the change reflects variations in national data reporting rather than an actual reduction in lethal violence.

The report found that 60 percent of female homicide victims were murdered by someone close to them, compared with 11 percent of male victims. It identified the home as the setting where women and girls face the highest risk of being killed. Femicide occurred in every region, with Africa recording the largest number of cases, at roughly 22,000 deaths in 2024.

UN Women Policy Division Director Sarah Hendricks emphasized that femicide often follows a pattern of escalating abuse, ranging from coercive control to threats and harassment, including online. The report also noted that digital technologies have intensified or enabled new forms of violence, such as non-consensual image sharing, doxxing, and deepfake exploitation. Hendricks urged governments to strengthen legal frameworks that address both online and offline abuse and intervene earlier to prevent violence from becoming fatal.