A new United Nations report reveals a grim reality: at least 140 women and girls worldwide lose their lives daily at the hands of someone they know, often a partner or close family member.
The report, released Monday by UN Women and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), highlights that a woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes globally. Disturbingly, the data shows an increase in such murders, with 51,100 women and girls killed by intimate partners or family members in 2023, up from 48,800 in 2022.
Africa bore a significant portion of this tragedy, with an estimated 21,700 victims of family-related or intimate partner femicide in 2023. Globally, the rate of such killings stands at approximately 1.3 women per 100,000 female population.
The findings underscore the urgent need for stronger measures to combat gender-based violence and protect women and girls in their own homes.
The UN report highlights stark regional disparities in femicide rates, with Africa recording the highest rate in 2023, at 2.9 victims per 100,000 population. The Americas and Oceania followed with rates of 1.6 and 1.5, respectively, while Asia and Europe reported significantly lower rates of 0.8 and 0.6 per 100,000.
Globally, 55% of femicides were committed by family members, while 45% involved intimate partners. This data underscores the troubling reality that home often remains the most dangerous place for women and girls, as the risk of lethal victimization is highest within their closest relationships.
The report also emphasizes the need for more comprehensive strategies to address killings perpetrated by other family members, as current data on patterns and risk factors remain limited.
While men accounted for the majority of homicide victims overall, the dynamics differed sharply when it came to intimate partner or family-related killings. These accounted for 11.8% of male homicide victims but disproportionately affected women, with 60.2% of female victims falling into this category.
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