According to the UN, around 89,000 women and girls were murdered worldwide last year – in more than half of the cases by their partner or a family member. The number is higher than it has been in 20 years.
Last year, nearly 89,000 women and girls were intentionally killed worldwide – the highest number in the last two decades, according to a report UN Office on Drugs and Crime Report (UNODC) and UN Women. Although total homicides fell, murders of women increased, data currently available for 2022 suggested, according to the UN.
Murdered particularly often by partners
Fifty-five percent (48,800) of all homicides against women are committed by family members or intimate partners, according to the report titled “Gender-Based Homicides of Women and Girls (Femicide).” According to this, on average more than 133 women or girls were killed in their own homes every day, with a high number of unreported cases. In four out of ten homicides of women, there is insufficient information about gender-specific motives.
Overall, however, women only make up 20 percent of all murder victims worldwide. Four times as many murder victims are men or boys. Twelve percent of homicides against men are committed at home.
Most victims in Africa
For the first time since UNODC began publishing regional estimates in 2013, Africa overtook Asia in 2022 as the region with the highest number of victims killed by partners or family members. In North America, femicides committed by partners or family members increased by 29 percent between 2017 and 2022, partly due to improved record-keeping practices.
In the Caribbean, such killings also increased by 8 percent over the same period, while in Central and South America they fell by 10 and 8 percent, respectively. Europe has seen an average decrease in femicides of 21 percent since 2010.
Appeal for more prevention and education
The “disturbing reality” is that home is anything but a safe haven for women and girls, the UN report said. The “alarming number” of femicides is a reminder that “humanity still struggles with deep-rooted inequalities and violence against women and girls,” said UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly.
“Every life lost is a call to action – a call to urgently address structural inequalities and improve criminal justice responses so that no woman or girl has to fear for their life because of their gender.” Governments must invest in institutions to end impunity, strengthen prevention and help victims put an end to violence, Waly appealed.