UNITED NATIONS, Nov 25 (IPS) – Every 10 minutes, a woman or girl is murdered at the hands of a partner or other family member. This only scratches the surface of how femicide, one of the most extreme forms of violence against women, continues at high levels around the world.
UN-Women and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a joint report. Femicide in 2023: Global estimates of femicide by intimate partners/family membersNovember 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The joint report analyzes statistical findings on the global rate of femicide (the deliberate killing of women) in 2023. This report focuses on femicide committed by intimate partners or family members.
“The new femicide report highlights the urgent need for strong criminal justice systems that hold perpetrators accountable while ensuring survivors have adequate support for safe and transparent reporting mechanisms,” said Ghada Waly, UNODC Executive Director. said.
In 2023, 85,000 women and girls will be murdered worldwide. Sixty percent of these murders, or 51,000, were committed by intimate partners or other family members. The report contrasts this with the fact that almost 12% of male homicide victims in 2023, or one in 10 victims, were killed by an intimate partner or family member. This highlights that gender differences are evident within homicides, with the domestic sphere being more dangerous for women and girls than for men and boys.
Last year, Africa had the highest rate of intimate partner and family-related (IP/FR) femicide, followed by the Americas and Oceania. In Europe and the United States, the majority of female victims of domestic homicide (64% and 58%, respectively) were killed at the hands of an intimate partner. On the other hand, in Asia, Africa and Oceania, most female victims were killed by family members compared to intimate partners, at 59% and 41% respectively. The report also notes that while Africa has the highest IP/FR femicide rates, regional femicide rates may be subject to uncertainty due to limitations in data availability.
These limitations in data availability are also evident in the report’s analysis of temporal trends in IP/FR femicide, explored in European and American contexts. The 2023 femicide IP/FR ratio was virtually identical to 2010. However, during the same period, the rate of femicide gradually decreased. This suggests that change can occur slowly and permeate common practices, and that the risk factors and causes of these forms of violence are rooted in practices and norms that do not change quickly.
“Violence against women and girls is preventable, not inevitable. We need stronger legislation, improved data collection, greater government accountability, a culture of zero tolerance and increased funding for women’s rights groups and institutions,” said UN Women. “I do,” he said. Seema Bahus.
Through its annual report, 16 Days of Activism, and the UNiTE campaign, UN-Women and UNODC address impunity by holding perpetrators of violence accountable and investing in preventive measures that protect the rights of survivors and provide them with essential support. We are calling for an end to this. service. Preventive measures could include strengthening laws and criminal justice responses to domestic violence, and the report mentions specific measures such as protective orders and removing guns from perpetrators’ possessions.
Information sharing and collaboration between the different actors involved in domestic violence investigations, such as social services, health facilities and the police, can also have an impact in identifying risks of further harm or femicide. In 2021, Colombia will introduce an integrated protocol that will allow women affected by gender-based violence to complete an assessment to determine their level of risk of catastrophic harm, and then work with relevant authorities to develop a safety plan that includes emergency measures to mitigate it. Develop. Risk of femicide. The tool found that 35-40% of women who have experienced intimate partner violence between 2021 and 2022 are at extreme risk of becoming victims of femicide.
When we focus on the epidemic of IP/FR femicide, especially when partners are the perpetrators, what is clear is that it is the culmination of ongoing domestic violence. In France, 37% of women murdered by an intimate partner reported previous physical, mental or sexual abuse by their partner. The violence may end there, but in some cases it continues, with the perpetrators taking their own lives soon after or committing violence against the children living with them.
What is also clear is that data collection efforts must be supported through initiatives led by specialized government agencies or national statistical offices. Limitations in data availability on family-related femicide need to be addressed, particularly in Africa and Asia, where higher rates of femicide perpetrated by family members are reported.
This year marks the 25th anniversary.Day We commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. There are 30 days beyond the horizonDay This marks the anniversary of the 2025 Beijing Platform for Action. This presents an opportunity for stakeholders to take to strengthen women’s rights and gender equality.
“As we approach the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 2025, it is time for world leaders to act urgently as UNiTE, recommitting and delivering the resources needed to end this crisis once and for all,” Bahous said. .
Public campaigns such as UNiTE and advocacy efforts through civil society and non-governmental organizations have been key to raising awareness of the epidemic of gender-based violence and condemning the actions that perpetuate it.
But what is also clear is that despite these efforts and measures taken by governments and other stakeholders to protect survivors of violence, femicide continues at alarmingly high levels around the world. This refers to an extreme form of gender-based violence that is rooted in social and cultural norms and regressive gender stereotypes. This refers to a global culture where half the world’s population is educated to never feel completely safe, even in their own homes. IPS UN Secretariat Report
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