Global Femicide Crisis: One Woman Killed Every 10 Minutes by Someone Close to Her in 2024, UN Report Reveals

Femicide remains a devastating global crisis with tens of thousands of women and girls losing their lives annually at the hands of those closest to them (Representational).

United States:

According to a recent United Nations report, a woman somewhere across the globe was killed by someone close to her every 10 minutes during the past year, highlighting the continued lack of progress in combating femicide worldwide.

The joint report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and UN Women on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women revealed that approximately 50,000 women and girls were murdered by intimate partners or family members in 2024.

The study indicated that 60 percent of female homicide victims globally were killed by partners or relatives including fathers, uncles, mothers, and brothers. In stark contrast, only 11 percent of male murder victims were killed by someone in their close circle.

The alarming statistics, compiled from 117 countries, translate to 137 women losing their lives daily, or one woman approximately every 10 minutes. While the total figure appears slightly lower than what was reported in 2023, the report clarifies this does not represent an actual decrease but rather reflects variations in data availability across different countries.

Femicide continues to claim tens of thousands of lives annually with no indication of improvement, and the report emphasizes that "home continues to be the most dangerous place for women and girls in terms of the risk of homicide."

While no region of the world is free from femicide, Africa recorded the highest number with approximately 22,000 cases last year.

Sarah Hendricks, Director of UN Women's Policy Division, stated: "Femicides don't happen in isolation. They often sit on a continuum of violence that can start with controlling behavior, threats, and harassment -- including online."

The report further highlighted how technological advancements have worsened certain forms of violence against women and created new threats, such as non-consensual image-sharing, doxxing, and deepfake videos.

Hendricks emphasized the urgent need for "implementation of laws that recognize how violence manifests across the lives of women and girls, both online and offline, and hold perpetrators to account well before it turns deadly."