Amuru | The danger for women and girls is often not in dark alleys or unfamiliar streets, but rather inside their own homes and spaces that should offer comfort, safety, and refuge.
Yet in 2024, an average of 137 women and girls were killed every single day by intimate partners or family members, according to a new UNODC and UN Women report released this month.
The figures – 50,000 women and girls murdered in the private sphere alone show that despite years of global pledges to end gender-based violence, the world has made no measurable progress.
Instead, the latest femicide brief, published as the world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, reveals a crisis that is both entrenched and worryingly normalised.
In total, 83,000 women and girls were intentionally killed in 2024, nearly two-thirds of them by people they knew and trusted.
“The home remains a dangerous and sometimes lethal place for too many women and girls. This year’s brief is a stark reminder of the need for better prevention strategies and criminal justice responses-ones that account for the conditions that propagate this extreme form of violence,” said John Brandolino, acting Executive Director of UNODC.
A violence that rarely begins with the final blow
Experts warn that these killings almost never occur in isolation; instead, femicide typically marks the culmination of a long trajectory of abuse-one that increasingly starts in the digital world before spilling into physical spaces.
“Femicides do not happen suddenly; they sit on a continuum of violence that often begins with controlling behaviour, threats and harassment, including online,” said Sarah Hendriks, Director of UN Women’s Policy Division.
This year’s UN 16 Days of Activism campaign focused on digital violence and reinforces this message; online spaces- once dismissed as ‘virtual’ have become battlegrounds where misogyny, harassment and surveillance flourish unchecked.
According to Hendriks, many victims’ early warning signs are brushed aside until the threats become physical and eventually lethal.
“Every woman and girl has the right to be safe in every part of her life. To prevent these killings, we need 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,” Hendriks warned.
Africa carries the heaviest burden
While femicide is a global emergency affecting societies across all economic and cultural divides, the crisis is not evenly distributed. The new data reveals stark regional disparities in the rate of femicide committed by intimate partners or family members.
“In Africa, 3 women and girls were killed per 100,000 women; Americas, 1.5 per 100,000, Oceania, -1.4 per 100,000 women, Asia, 0.7 per 100,000 women and Europe, 0.5 per 100,000 women,” the report cited.
Africa’s rate is double that of the Americas and six times higher than Europe’s, reflecting a deadly convergence of entrenched gender norms, weak protective systems and limited access to justice.
Some countries, particularly in Latin America and parts of Asia, report significant levels of femicide occurring outside the home linked to organised crime, trafficking and insecurity but UNODC and UN Women caution that data in these areas remains incomplete; thus, without reliable reporting, they warn that policymakers cannot fully grasp the magnitude or drivers of the crisis.
The report notes a slight numerical drop from 51,000 private-sphere femicide in 2023 to nearly 50,000 in 2024, but stresses that this does not signal progress; instead, the shift largely reflects gaps and inconsistencies in data collection, not a reduction in deaths.
Beyond the statistics lies an unbearable truth: every 10 minutes, a woman or girl is killed—most often in the very place where she should feel safest.
Only 11 per cent of male homicides last year were committed by intimate partners or relatives, underscoring the deeply gendered nature of this violence.
The report makes clear that despite decades of advocacy, legislation, and awareness campaigns, the world continues to fail women and girls at the most fundamental level: protecting their right to life.
To address this, the two UN agencies are working with governments to implement a comprehensive 2022 statistical framework aimed at standardising how gender-related killings are identified and classified.
Without accurate data, experts say, efforts to track trends, assess risks, or intervene meaningfully remain severely hampered.
Until governments strengthen the systems meant to safeguard victims from law enforcement responses to digital platform accountability to community support structures – this cycle of violence will continue.
And unless commitments are backed with sustained political will and resources, the femicide brief released in November may look tragically similar.
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