In 2024, one woman killed every 10 minutes by a partner or family member: UN report

One woman was killed every 10 minutes by an intimate partner or family member in 2024, according to new data released on Tuesday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women. The report shows that 137 women and girls were killed every day in 2024 by intimate partners or family members, with no change in levels of violence despite years of global commitments. The findings were released to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The 2025 femicide brief reports that 83,000 women and girls were intentionally killed last year. Of these, 50,000, or 60 per cent, were killed by a partner or family member. According to UN estimates, this means one woman or girl lost her life to violence inside the home almost every 10 minutes. By comparison, only 11 per cent of male homicide victims were killed by intimate partners or family members in the same period.

“The home remains a dangerous and sometimes lethal place for too many women and girls around the world. The 2025 femicide brief provides a stark reminder of 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,” said John Brandolino, Acting Executive Director of UNODC.

UN Women said femicide was often the result of patterns of violence that begin long before a killing. “Femicides don’t happen in isolation. They often sit on a continuum of violence that can start with controlling behaviour, threats, and harassment, including online,” said Sarah Hendriks, Director of UN Women’s Policy Division.

She said this year’s UN 16 Days campaign highlights how online abuse can move offline. “The United Nation’s 16 Days campaign this year underscores that digital violence often doesn’t stay online. It can escalate offline and, in the worst cases, contribute to lethal harm, including femicide. Every woman and girl has the right to be safe in every part of her life, and that requires systems that intervene early. To prevent these killings, we need the implementation of laws that recognise how violence manifests across women and girls’ lives, both online and offline, and hold perpetrators to account well before it turns deadly.”

The report says women and girls are killed in gender-related attacks in every region. The highest rate of femicide by partners or family members in 2024 was recorded in Africa at three per 100,000 female population. The Americas recorded 1.5, Oceania 1.4, Asia 0.7 and Europe 0.5 per 100,000 female population.