A new United Nations analysis has drawn renewed attention to the persistent danger women face within their own homes, revealing that in 2024, one woman was killed every 10 minutes by an intimate partner or a family member.
The findings, released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and UN Women to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, estimate that about 50,000 women and girls were killed last year by partners or relatives. The figure, drawn from data in 117 countries, translates to roughly 137 deaths each day.
The report emphasizes that most women who are killed globally lose their lives at the hands of someone close to them. It estimates that six in 10 female homicide victims were murdered by partners or family members such as fathers, brothers, mothers, or uncles. For men, the proportion of homicide victims killed by someone within their circle was significantly lower, at about 11 percent.
Although last year’s estimate sits slightly below the figure recorded in 2023, the study cautions against interpreting this as progress. The variation, it says, is largely due to differences in reporting and data availability across countries, not an actual decline in cases.
Africa once again recorded the highest number of femicides linked to family or intimate partners, with about 22,000 cases reported for 2024. The UN notes that no region was spared from such killings.
The study also warns that technology is increasingly enabling new forms of abuse. Non-consensual sharing of intimate images, doxxing, and deepfake content were cited as part of the growing digital dimension of violence directed at women and girls.
“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,” said Sarah Hendricks, Director of UN Women’s Policy Division. She added, “We need the 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.”
