• Globally, 85,000 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2023. About 60 per cent of these homicides — 51,100 — were committed by an intimate partner or a family member.

• This was revealed in a report titled ‘Femicides in 2023: Global Estimates of Intimate Partner/Family Member Femicides’ by UN Women and UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

• The data shows that 140 women and girls die every day at the hands of their partner or a close relative, which means one woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes.

Extreme manifestation of gender-based violence

• Violence against women and girls is the most pervasive human rights violation.

• Femicide represents the most extreme manifestation of gender-based violence against women and girls. Very often such killings are not isolated incidents but rather the culmination of pre-existing forms of gender-based violence that affect all regions and countries worldwide. 

• Broadly speaking, femicides or gender-related killings of women and girls are committed in different settings, within the private sphere and beyond, for gender-related motives. 

• Such motives are rooted in societal norms and stereotypes that consider women to be subordinate to men, as well as in discrimination towards women and girls, inequality and unequal power relations between women and men in society. 

• Gender-related motives characterise the context in which these crimes are committed, which also distinguishes them from other intentional killings of women and girls unrelated to gender motives.

Key points of the report:

• Femicide transcends borders, socioeconomic statuses, and cultures, but its severity varies regionally. 

• The highest number of intimate partner and family killings was in Africa with an estimated 21,700 victims in 2023. Africa also had the highest number of victims relative to the size of its population 2.9 victims per 100,000 people.

• In Europe and the Americas, most victims were killed by their intimate partners, comprising 64 per cent and 58 per cent of cases, respectively. In contrast, women in Africa and Asia were more likely to be killed by family members than by partners, reflecting varied cultural and social dynamics responsible for this discrimination.  

• Rates were significantly lower in Asia at 0.8 victims per 100,000 and Europe at 0.6 per 100,000.

• The intentional killing of women in the private sphere in Europe and the Americas is largely by intimate partners.

• By contrast, the vast majority of male homicides take place outside homes and families.

• Even though men and boys account for the vast majority of homicide victims, women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by lethal violence in the private sphere.

• Despite the alarming numbers, the lack of consistent and comprehensive data remains a significant challenge.

• Only 37 countries reported data on intimate partner and family-related femicides in 2023, a sharp decline from 75 countries in 2020. This data gap hampers efforts to monitor trends and enforce accountability for these crimes​. 

• Accurate and transparent data is essential to inform policy, track progress, and ensure governments remain accountable for their commitments to gender equality.

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