This article originally appeared on PassBlue, a women-led nonprofit newsroom covering the United Nations and women’s rights around the world.
The home is one of the most dangerous places on earth for women, a new United Nations report has found. More than 60% of female murders are committed by intimate partners or relatives.
At least 51,000 women will be murdered worldwide in 2023, and six in 10 female homicide victims will be killed by their spouse or another family member, according to the just-released Female Homicide Index by the UN Women organization. I found out that it was done. Femicide is the intentional killing of women because of their gender.
“Each statistic is a figure often hidden by society’s stigma or silenced by fear,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told the General Assembly on November 25 at the 25th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence. spoke. against women. “My personal belief is that the safest home we always take a victim to is one where she remains in her home and the male perpetrator is removed.”
Each statistic represents a person often hidden by society’s prejudices or silenced by fear.
Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
Mr. Mohammed further added: “Millions of women begin their days filled with anxiety, adjusting their daily routes, clothing, actions and decisions not by choice but out of necessity and fear to protect themselves. ”
The report found that the femicide crisis may have received less attention in the wake of the 2020 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. The number of countries reporting murders of women by intimate partners or other family members has fallen by 50 percent since then.
Africa and Asia recorded the highest number of female murders in 2023, with an estimated 21,700 and 18,500 victims respectively.
According to the report, both men and women are victims of violence from intimate partners and family members, and by 2023 men will account for 80% of homicide victims worldwide, but deaths due to family violence will increase. Compared to 60%, it was only 12%. of women.
“Murder is the most extreme expression of violence against women and girls, and is often the fatal and final act in a series of violent acts,” said UN Women Deputy Executive Director Nyaradzai Gambonzwanda. said. She noted that the numbers listed in the report may hide the true scale of femicide.
“Gender-related killings of women and girls remain an overlooked crime,” Gambonswanda added. “We are concerned that efforts to identify those responsible for murder appear to be slow. We urge countries to ensure that all victims are counted and that gender-related killings of women and girls We call for further efforts to generate evidence to better understand the types of
The report also showed that most cases of women murdered by intimate partners occur in Europe and the Americas. Many of the women reported some type of abuse to authorities before they were ultimately killed.
According to UN Women, between 2019 and 2022 in France, 79% of female homicides were committed by intimate partners or family members, while other forms of female homicide, such as violent crimes and exploitation, accounted for 5% of the total.
“France condemns all forms of violence against women and girls,” Christophe Bigot, Secretary-General of the French Delegation to the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, said at the United Nations on 25 November.
“This violence is taking on new forms, including cyberbullying, the non-consensual dissemination of real or AI-generated intimate content, online sexual exploitation and abuse, and the online propagation of hate speech against women and girls. “We’re taking it,” Bigot continued. “In response, we must ensure that the rights of women and girls are respected online.”
France and the Netherlands recently led a General Assembly resolution to strengthen efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in the digital sphere. In the final count, 170 countries voted in favor and 13 abstained, seven of them African countries, including Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country. Argentina was the only country to vote against it.