One woman or girl is killed by a partner or family member almost every 10 minutes, an average of 137 every day, according to new data released by the UN. In its report released on Monday, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women said that femicide continues to take the lives of tens of thousands of women and girls worldwide, with no sign of real progress.
“Last year, 83,000 women and girls were killed intentionally. Of them, 60 per cent – 50,000 women and girls – were killed at the hands of intimate partners or family members,” the report said. This means one woman or girl is killed by a partner or family member almost every 10 minutes – an average of 137 every day, it said.
In contrast, just 11 per cent of male homicides were perpetrated by intimate partners or family members during the same year, it added. “The home remains a dangerous and sometimes lethal place for too many women and girls around the world,” said John Brandolino, acting Executive Director of UNODC.
Brandolino stresses the need for better prevention strategies and criminal justice responses to femicide, ones that account for the conditions that propagate this extreme form of violence. Sarah Hendriks, Director of UN Women’s Policy Division, highlighted the threat of online violence.
She said that digital violence often doesn’t stay online and it can escalate offline and, in the worst cases, contribute to lethal harm, including femicide. Women and girls are subjected to this extreme form of violence in every region worldwide.
It is estimated that the highest rate of femicide by an intimate-partner/family member was in Africa (3 per 1,00,000 female population), followed by the Americas (1.5), Oceania (1.4), Asia (0.7) and Europe (0.5).
Though femicides are also committed outside of the home, the amount of data remains limited, it said. Though the nearly 50,000 women and girls killed in the private sphere in 2024 is lower than the 2023 estimate of 51,100 victims, this change is largely due to differences in data availability at the country level and is not indicative of an actual decrease, it said.
international financial architecture reform, where progress has been insufficient,” he said. As regards to UN Security Council reforms, the “majority agree that the body should be reflective of the current geopolitical realities” and enhance the “Council’s credibility,” he said while emphasising the need to “resist efforts by those who seek to maintain the status quo.”
India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserves a place as a permanent member of the Council, which in its current form does not represent the geo-political realities of the 21st Century.
In his remarks, Harish said India remains committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the pact and its annexes. “India believes the 2028 review should be results-oriented and forward-looking,” he said while delivering remarks at the third interactive informal dialogue on the review of the Pact for the Future agreement.
Harish also presented a copy of the Hindi translation of the Pact for the Future to UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang, Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations posted on social media. The Pact for the Future covers a broad range of themes, including peace and security, digital cooperation, human rights, gender, youth and future generations, and the transformation of global Governance.