By United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women

The latest report on femicides reveals that 60 per cent of all female homicides are committed by an intimate partner or other family member.

New York/Vienna 25 November 2024 — On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, November 25, the report Femicides in 2023: Global Estimates of Intimate Partner/Family Member Femicides by UN Women and UNODC reveals that femicide—the most extreme form of violence against women and girls—remains pervasive in the world.

Globally, 85,000 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2023. 60 per cent of these homicides—51,000—were committed by an intimate partner or other family member. 140 women and girls die every day at the hands of their partner or a close relative, which means one woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes.

In 2023, Africa recorded the highest rates of intimate partner and family-related femicide, followed by the Americas and then by Oceania. In Europe and the Americas, most women killed in the domestic sphere (64 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively) were victims of intimate partners, while elsewhere, family members were the primary perpetrators.

“Violence against women and girls is not inevitable—it is preventable. We need robust legislation, improved data collection, greater government accountability, a zero-tolerance culture, and increased funding for women’s rights organizations and institutional bodies. As we approach the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 2025, it is time for world leaders to UNiTE and act with urgency, recommit, and channel the resources needed to end this crisis once and for all," highlighted UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; 2024

By Gunes A. Aşık, Naci Mocan:

We analyze the expressive content of government action, focusing on Istanbul Convention, an international treaty aimed at protecting women against violence, signed and ratified by 39 countries. In 2021, ten years after signing the Convention, the Turkish government withdrew from it, on the grounds that it "was hijacked by a group of people attempting to normalize homosexuality, which is incompatible with Turkey's social and family values." Although this withdrawal did not alter existing laws or law enforcement practices, women's rights advocates viewed it as a signal of tolerance for violence against women. We use two separate datasets on female murders from independent sources. Analyses, including a difference-in-difference model with male homicide data, show that the withdrawal led to an additional 70 female murders per year, primarily committed by intimate partners. The effect is more pronounced in provinces where the long-governing religious-conservative coalition parties have stronger voter support and in provinces with lower education levels. We also show that Turkey's entry into the Convention in 2011 had the opposite impact, leading to a decrease in female murders. The signing of the Convention, which acted as a normative signal against violence, and the subsequent enactment of comprehensive legislation strengthening deterrence, had distinct effects. The signaling effect of the Entry was more significant in the same provinces that reacted more strongly to the Exit: those with lower education levels, stronger support for the governing party, and the Eastern region of the country. These findings indicate that government actions are interpreted as normative signals by society.

Bonn, Germany: IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, 2024. 56p

By Samantha Bricknell, Hannah Miles

This study uses 34 years of data from the National Homicide Monitoring Program to describe the prevalence and characteristics of homicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, finding Indigenous women experienced a homicide victimisation rate up to seven times the national average.

These data complement the findings from the currently small number of studies about the homicide of Indigenous women and contribute long-term data with which to measure national targets to reduce rates of victimisation and eliminate the circumstances that initiate lethal violence.

Key findings

• Between 1 July 1989 and 30 June 2023, 476 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women were victims of homicide.

• 96% of the 473 homicide incidents involving an Indigenous woman were cleared by police.

• 97% of victims from cleared incidents were killed by someone they knew.

• 72% of Indigenous women were killed by a current or former male intimate partner, with smaller proportions killed by another family member or a friend or acquaintance (13% each).

• 92% percent of the male intimate partner offenders were also Indigenous.

• The homicide of Indigenous women mostly occurred in a private residence, although over a third took place in a community setting, specifically an open area or streetscape. This pattern differs from homicide generally, which less commonly occur in public locations.

• Around half of the homicides were immediately preceded by some form of domestic conflict or enmity.

Statistical Bulletin 46 Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2024. 17p.

By The Young Women’s Alliance

This report examines young people’s relationships, sex lives and experiences of disrespect and violence. The evidence reveals:

• Statistically significant disparities between young women and men. For women, heightened vulnerability snowballs into disadvantage in other life areas; for men, early sexist views compound in educational and workplace settings, and can manifest in violent behaviour.

• YWA's original psychological risk profile of young men is more highly correlated with GBV perpetration than the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI), a validated indicator of likelihood to engage in violent behaviour.1

• A stark reality exists where 90% of interviewed women see sexual violence and/or assault as inevitable in their lifetime (if it had not already occurred); a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if,’ expressing that violence is synonymous with womanhood.

• Significant gender disparities in perceptions of sexuality-related education, with men rating the education they received on sex and consent as significantly better than women, a concerning gap in preparedness prior to formative sexual experiences.

• YWA’s original Gender and Relationship Distress Score, a 12-item measure, indicates that more than 1 in 5 young women (21.8%) experience significant gendered distress in their intimate relationships.

Australia: Young Women's Alliance, 2024. 96p.

Linda Elisabeth LaPinta and Mary Angela Shaughnessy

Focus on Battered Women: The book, "Sisters in Pain," highlights the stories of battered women in Kentucky who fought back against their abusers, emphasizing their struggles and resilience.

Legal and Social Challenges: It discusses the legal and social challenges these women faced, including the lack of enforcement of domestic violence laws and the societal norms that perpetuate abuse.

Personal Narratives: The book includes personal narratives and interviews with the women, providing a deep, personal look into their experiences and the impact of abuse on their lives.

Call for Change: The authors aim to raise awareness and inspire action to improve the legal and social systems that fail to protect victims of domestic violence.

University Press of Kentucky, 2014, 214 pages