Femicide, the gender-related killing of women and girls, represents the most extreme form of violence against females worldwide. A joint report by UN Women and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), released on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, highlights that femicide is increasing globally. Unlike general homicide, femicide is motivated by gender-based discrimination, unequal power relations, harmful social norms, or stereotypes, and can occur in homes, workplaces, schools, public spaces, or online. It is often linked to intimate partner violence, sexual harassment, trafficking, and harmful practices.
Family and partner violence remain major drivers of femicide. In 2024, around 50,000 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or family members, averaging 137 deaths daily. Current and former partners account for roughly 60 percent of all family-related killings. Regional differences exist, with the Americas and Oceania reporting high rates of family-related femicide, while Asia and Europe report comparatively lower rates. UN Women notes that the true scale of femicide is likely higher due to under-reporting.
Women in public life—including politicians, journalists, and human rights and environmental defenders—face escalating risks both online and offline. Technology-facilitated violence, such as cyberstalking, coercive control, and image-based abuse, often escalates to offline abuse and can sometimes result in femicide. Beyond the private sphere, gender-related killings occur in contexts such as sexual assault by strangers, harmful cultural practices like female genital mutilation or honor killings, hate crimes linked to sexual orientation or gender identity, armed conflict, organized crime, and human trafficking.
Femicide is a global crisis affecting women and girls in every country. Africa recorded the highest numbers of female intimate partner and family-related killings in 2024, with an estimated 22,600 victims. Online threats target women in public roles, including one in four women journalists worldwide and one-third of women parliamentarians in the Asia-Pacific region. Indigenous and transgender women also face disproportionate risks, while environmental and human rights defenders have been killed due to their work.
The rise in femicide is driven by persistent gender inequality, discriminatory norms, escalating violence in conflict or displacement contexts, weak protection systems, limited accountability, and online harassment. Economic insecurity, crises, and shrinking civic spaces further increase the risk of lethal violence against women and girls.
The UN works to prevent femicide by strengthening legal frameworks, supporting survivor-centred services, improving data collection, assisting states with prevention strategies, training law enforcement agencies, monitoring violations, and conducting public campaigns to challenge harmful norms. Key international instruments addressing gender-based violence include Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals, which focuses on gender equality, and the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
