Gender-related killings, known as feminicides, are the most brutal and extreme manifestation of violence against women and girls.
The last report of theUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC) And UN Women published on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women shows that femicide is on the rise worldwide.
Here’s what you need to know about femicide.
Femicide versus homicide
Femicide is defined as intentional killing motivated by sex. This is different from homicide, where the motivation may not be gender-related.
Femicide is motivated by discrimination against women and girls, unequal power relations, gender stereotypes or harmful social norms.
Actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu joins UN Women India with a mission to end digital violence against women and girls.
This can happen at home, in workplaces, in schools or in public spaces and online. It can be caused by domestic violence, sexual harassment and violence, harmful practices and trafficking.
Family and domestic violence
In 2024, approximately 50,000 women and girls worldwide have been killed by their intimate partners or other family members, including fathers, mothers, uncles and brothers; this represents an average of 137 women or girls every day.
Current and former intimate partners are by far the most likely perpetrators of femicide, accounting for an average of 60 percent of all family-related murders.
Beyond family
Gender-related killings take place in many contexts beyond the private sphere.
They may be linked to rape or sexual violence committed by a person unknown to the victim.
Femicide can be linked to harmful practices such as female genital mutilation or so-called honor killings or the result of hate crimes linked to sexual orientation or gender identity.
It is often linked to armed conflict, gangs, human trafficking and other forms of organized crime.
Global problem
Femicide is a global crisis that affects women and girls in every country.
In 2024, Africa recorded the highest number of female intimate partner murders and family-related murders, with an estimated 22,600 victims (3 victims per 100,000).
“No more feminicides,” reads this graffiti scrawled on a wall in Mexico City, where public outrage has intensified against gender-motivated killings.
The Americas and Oceania also recorded high rates of family femicide (1.5 and 1.4 per 100,000, respectively), while rates were significantly lower in Asia and Europe (0.7 and 0.5 per 100,000, respectively).
UN Women calls these figures “alarming”, but warns that the true scale of femicides “is likely much higher” due to under-reporting.
Risk groups
Women in public life, including politicians, journalists, and human rights and environmental advocates, face escalating violence online and offline.
Technology-facilitated violence, such as cyberbullying, coercive control, and image-based abuse, can escalate offline and, in some cases, lead to femicide.
Social media can enable cyberbullying.
One in four female journalists worldwide and a third of female parliamentarians in the Asia-Pacific region have received death threats online.
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 an increase in targeted killings around the world.
Why are feminicides increasing?
The increase in femicide is driven by persistent gender inequalities, norms of discrimination, and escalating violence in contexts of conflict and displacement.
Limited liability, weak protection systems and online harassment further increase risks.
Crises, economic insecurity and shrinking civic spaces also intensify deadly violence against women and girls.
What is the UN doing to prevent it?
The UN is working to prevent femicide by strengthening legal frameworks, supporting survivor-centered services and improving data collection.
SDG Goal 5: Gender equality.
It helps states with prevention strategies, trains law enforcement, monitors violations, and supports public campaigns that challenge harmful norms.
Objective 5 of the global agreement Sustainable Development Goals which concerns gender equality, and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by UN member states, are two fundamental international instruments that combat gender-based violence.
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
