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A new UN femicide report shows 50,000 women and girls were killed by partners or relatives in 2024, the Mirror reports. UN officials warn that domestic violence remains lethal worldwide and call for stronger laws, better data and early interventions to stop patterns of abuse before they escalate.
A new UN assessment has delivered a bleak message ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Despite years of promises and global campaigns, the number of women and girls killed by partners or relatives has remained devastatingly high.
Global crisis revealed
According to reporting from The Mirror, the 2025 femicide brief from UN Women and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows that 50,000 women and girls were murdered by intimate partners or family members in 2024 — the equivalent of one death every 10 minutes.
In total, 83,000 women and girls were intentionally killed last year. The report found that 60% of these victims died at the hands of partners or relatives, while only 11% of male homicides were linked to domestic or family settings.
UN Women’s policy director Sarah Hendriks warned that these killings often develop from patterns of coercive and online abuse.
Calls for stronger protection
UNODC’s acting executive director John Brandolino stressed that the home “remains a dangerous and sometimes lethal place” for many women and girls. He said the findings underscore the need for prevention strategies rooted in criminal justice reforms that directly address the conditions allowing this violence to persist.
The report highlights significant regional disparities. Africa recorded the highest rate of femicide by partners or family members at 3 per 100,000 women and girls. The Americas followed with 1.5, then Oceania at 1.4, Asia at 0.7 and Europe at 0.5.
Gaps in data
While the UN notes that femicides also happen outside the home, evidence remains incomplete. According to the Mirror,
UN Women and UNODC are working with governments to implement a 2022 statistical framework designed to improve how gender-related killings are identified and recorded.
Better data, the agencies argue, is crucial to understanding the true scale of the crisis, strengthening justice responses and ensuring victims are not obscured by reporting gaps.
Urgent need for action
The report’s authors say that without early intervention, accountability measures and recognition of digital abuse as a precursor to violence, the global toll will remain unchanged.
For millions of women and girls, they warn, safety at home is still far from guaranteed.
Sources: Mirror – UN Women
