A United Nations report on gender-based violence shows an astonishing average of 140 women and girls killed every day in 2023 by intimate partners or close relatives. According to the report, which was released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, about 60 percent of the 85,000 women and girls murdered globally last year were victims of such violence.
These findings bring forth one tragic fact: “Women and girls everywhere are still affected by this extreme form of gender-based violence, and no region is excluded. The home is the most dangerous place for women and girls,” as stated in the report.
Africa stands out as the region with the highest number of victims, with some 21,700 women and girls killed by intimate partners or family members in 2023. It also represents the highest victimization rate in absolute terms when considering the population of that continent: 2.9 victims per 100,000.
In the Americas and Oceania, it was comparatively high at 1.6 and 1.5 victims per 100,000, respectively. In sharp contrast, Asia had a rate of 0.8 victims per 100,000, and Europe the lowest, with 0.6 victims per 100,000.
The report indicates that “in Europe and the Americas, most intentional killings of women are perpetrated within the domestic sphere, by an intimate partner, whereas most male homicides take place outside the home environment.
Whereas in general, the victims of homicides are men and boys, women and girls bear the large brunt of lethal violence within the domestic sphere. The report highlights that while an estimated 80 percent of all homicide victims in 2023 were men, nearly 60 percent of women who were intentionally killed were victims of intimate partner or family member violence.
While many countries have engaged in ongoing efforts to combat these killings, the report projects that such killings are still alarmingly high. The report concludes that many of these tragic incidents often manifest in repeated episodes of gender-based violence, suggesting that timely and effective interventions can prevent these fatalities.
