The clock is ticking, and for women and girls across the globe, every ten minutes represents more than just a passage of time; it marks the moment another life is extinguished by the very people who should offer protection. New data released by the United Nations reveals a harrowing reality: last year, 83,000 women and girls were killed intentionally. Within that staggering figure lies a more intimate horror—60 per cent of those victims, totaling roughly 50,000 individuals, were murdered by their intimate partners or family members. This equates to an average of 137 women and girls killed every single day within the supposed sanctuary of their own homes.
To understand the gravity of these figures, one must look at the gendered disparity of lethal violence. While men are statistically more likely to be victims of homicide in general, the nature of that violence is vastly different. Only 11 per cent of male homicides are perpetrated by intimate partners or family members. For women, the home is often the most dangerous place they can be, a stark contradiction to the universal human need for domestic safety. This is not a series of isolated tragedies but a systemic global crisis that transcends borders, cultures, and socioeconomic status.
Femicide—the intentional killing of women and girls because they are female—is rarely a sudden, unpredictable explosion of violence. Instead, as experts point out, it is the devastating conclusion of a long-standing "continuum of violence." This cycle often begins long before a weapon is drawn or a physical blow is struck. It manifests in controlling behavior, financial abuse, verbal threats, and persistent harassment. In the modern era, this continuum has found a new, virulent breeding ground in the digital sphere.
Sarah Hendriks, Director of UN Women’s Policy Division, emphasizes that the boundary between the virtual and physical worlds is increasingly porous. According to Hendriks, femicides do not happen in a vacuum. They are often preceded by a trajectory of abuse that can include online stalking and digital harassment. She notes that the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism campaign this year is specifically highlighting how digital violence often escalates into offline harm. In the most extreme cases, tech-facilitated abuse contributes directly to lethal outcomes. Hendriks asserts that every woman and girl has an inherent right to safety in every facet of her life, necessitating systems that provide early intervention. To stop these killings, there must be a robust implementation of laws that recognize the evolving ways violence manifests—both on screens and in person—holding perpetrators accountable long before their behavior turns deadly.
The 2025 femicide brief serves as a grim wake-up call for the international community. John Brandolino, acting Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), notes that the home remains a lethal environment for far too many. He argues that the current data provides a stark reminder of the urgent need for more sophisticated prevention strategies and criminal justice responses. These responses must be tailored to account for the specific conditions that allow this extreme form of violence to propagate, focusing on the root causes of gender-based aggression.
Geographically, no corner of the map is immune to this epidemic, though the rates of violence vary significantly by region. According to the 2025 report, Africa records the highest rate of femicide committed by intimate partners or family members, with an estimated 3 victims for every 100,000 women and girls. The Americas follow with a rate of 1.5, while Oceania stands at 1.4. In Asia, the rate is estimated at 0.7, and Europe reports the lowest relative rate at 0.5 per 100,000. Despite these variations, the underlying issue remains the same: women are being targeted by those closest to them at rates that demand immediate structural reform.
One of the greatest challenges in addressing femicide is the lack of comprehensive data. While the numbers of domestic killings are better tracked than in previous decades, femicides occurring outside the home—such as those linked to organized crime, human trafficking, or targeted hate crimes—remain vastly underreported. To bridge these information gaps, UN Women and UNODC are working in partnership with various nations to implement the 2022 statistical framework. This framework is designed to help countries better identify, record, and classify gender-related killings. By improving the quality and availability of data, advocates and policymakers can more accurately assess the magnitude of the problem, develop effective interventions, and ensure that survivors and victims receive the justice they deserve.
While the 2024 estimate of 50,000 domestic femicides is slightly lower than the 51,100 victims estimated in 2023, experts warn against viewing this as a sign of progress. This minor statistical shift is largely attributed to fluctuations in data availability at the national level rather than a genuine decrease in violence. In many parts of the world, reporting mechanisms remain fragile, and many deaths are still classified as general homicides without accounting for the gendered motivations behind them.
The release of these findings coincides with the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, a global initiative led by UN Women under the UNiTE to End Violence against Women banner. Running annually from November 25—the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women—to December 10—Human Rights Day—the campaign serves as a period of intense advocacy and action.
In 2025, the campaign’s spotlight is firmly on the rise of digital violence. This form of abuse is one of the fastest-evolving threats to women’s safety globally. It encompasses a wide range of behaviors, from relentless online harassment and stalking to more modern horrors like gendered disinformation, the creation of non-consensual deepfakes, and the "revenge porn" industry, which involves the non-consensual sharing of intimate images. As technology advances, so too do the tools used by abusers to isolate, shame, and control women.
The UNiTE campaign is issuing a direct call to action for governments, technology conglomerates, and local communities. The goal is to strengthen legal frameworks to keep pace with technological change, end the culture of impunity that often surrounds online abuse, and hold digital platforms accountable for the content they host and the safety of their users. This requires more than just reactive measures; it demands sustained investment in prevention, digital literacy programs, and services that place the survivor at the center of the response. Furthermore, it highlights the need for long-term support for women’s rights organizations, which are currently on the front lines of the battle to make digital spaces safe and inclusive for everyone.
The work of UN Women remains central to this mission. As the primary United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, the organization works to shift the very foundations of society—laws, institutions, and social behaviors—to close the gender gap. By keeping the rights of women and girls at the center of global progress, they aim to build a world where equality is not just an aspiration but a lived reality.
The fight against femicide is a fight for the fundamental human right to life. It requires a dismantling of the patriarchal norms that suggest women are property or that violence within the home is a private matter. As the 16 Days of Activism begin, the message from the international community is clear: the killing must stop, the systems must change, and the digital and physical worlds must be made safe for every woman and girl, regardless of where she lives or who she shares her home with. The 137 lives lost every day are a testament to a global failure that can no longer be ignored. Justice, in its truest form, requires a world where the next ten minutes pass without another woman falling victim to a preventable tragedy.
