Post by Radrook Admin on Jun 18, 2024 15:58:42 GMT -5
A Femicide Factsheet: Global Stats & Calls to Action
Yes, unfortunately, femicide, the killing of women by males, is indeed a serious problem in Latin America. However, Latin America doesn't lead the World in Violence against women, the continents of Asia and Africa do.
While Asia is the region with the largest absolute number of killings, Africa is the region with the highest level of violence relative to the size of its female population. (UNODC)
www.womankind.org.uk/resource/a-femicide-factsheet-global-stats-calls-to-action/
www.womankind.org.uk/resource/a-femicide-factsheet-global-stats-calls-to-action/
A Femicide Factsheet: Global Stats & Calls to Action
24 November 2022
Violence against women and girls remains one of the least prosecuted and punished crimes in the world. It is “still so deeply embedded in cultures around the world that it is almost invisible,” says the UN, describing it as “a construct of power and a means of maintaining the status-quo”. Indeed, its prevalence has desensitised people to the alarming reality – and the fact that far too often, violence against women and girls in all its various forms, ends in femicide.
To prevent femicide, we need governments across the globe to take action. This means imminent changes to current patriarchal systems and harmful societal norms that allow for femicide to happen: from ensuring our justice systems hold perpetrators accountable, to creating safe and enabling environments for survivors of violence to report what has happened to them so that femicide can be averted. In short, we need gender equality.
“Femicide differs from other forms of murder because it is the gender-related killing of a woman only because she is a woman. This indicates that the root causes of femicide differ from other types of murder and are related to the general position of women in the society, discrimination against women, gender roles, unequal distribution of power between men and women, habitual gender stereotypes, prejudices and violence against women.” – Ivana Milovanović (Serbian judge)
Here are some statistics around femicide. You can share these, as well as Womankind’s demands below, to help us raise awareness and work towards ending femicide.
Globally 81,000 women and girls were killed in 2021, around 45,000 of them (56%) died at the hands of an intimate partner or a family member. (UN Women)
Every single day, 137 women and girls across the world are killed by a family member or intimate partner (Femicide Census)
The most dangerous place for a woman is the home: it is estimated that around the world, a woman or girl is killed every 11 minutes in their own home. (UNODC)
Six women are killed every hour by men around the world, most by men in their own family or their partners. (weforum.org)
45% of all abortions are unsafe, and could lead to complications, including death, for the woman. In some cases, abortion is essential care, yet bans or lack of access lead to over 800 maternal deaths daily, which are preventable. (CGWL)
In some countries, murder is the second leading cause of death for women at work, while the proportion of women killed by homicide at work is twice that of total workplace fatalities in women. (CGWL)
According to UNODC, female sex workers are 18 times more likely to be killed than women in other professions. (CGWL)
There are an estimated 5000 murders of women in the name of ‘honor’ each year worldwide, although this is believed to be an underestimate. (*‘Honor’-related murders involve a girl or woman being killed by a male or female family member for an actual or assumed sexual or behavioral transgression, including adultery, sexual intercourse or pregnancy outside marriage – or even for being raped. WHO)
Across the world, femicide of transgender women often faces high level of impunity, including the fact that the crimes often go uninvestigated. (CGWL)
Although there is a higher incidence of violence against women with disabilities, femicides of women with disabilities remain a “largely invisible problem, as data on this issue is not consistently collected and remains anecdotal if it is collected at all.” (CGWL)
Girls with disabilities are often the victims of infanticide as “their lives are devalued.” (CGWL)
In South Africa, a woman is killed every four hours.
According to the human rights organization, Centre for Constitutional Rights, the femicide rate in South Africa is five times the global average.
While Asia is the region with the largest absolute number of killings, Africa is the region with the highest level of violence relative to the size of its female population. (UNODC)
More than two thirds of all women (69%) intentionally killed in Africa in 2017 were killed by intimate partners or other family members.
According to UN Women Kenya, an average of eight women died every month in 2019 due to femicide, February being the worst with 17 deaths. (CGWL)
In Egypt, there were 113 cases of women murdered as a result of domestic abuse in 2020, and a total of 165 cases of femicide in that same year. (The Edraak Foundation for Development and Equality)
In Spain, femicides have more than doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels: In May 2020, there was 1 femicide every week; in May 2021, this rose to 1 femicide every 3 days. (Wilson Center)
German broadcaster DW reported in November 2020 that ”every day in Germany a man tries to kill his partner or ex-partner. Every third day an attempt is successful.”
The number of femicides in Italy has risen by almost 16% over the past year, with the vast majority taking place in a family context. A woman is killed on average every three days in Italy. (The Guardian)
Poland has the highest rate of femicide in Europe. Approximately 400 femicides were recorded in 2020. (Statista)
400-500 honor killings take place each year in Iran. Almost always by male relatives. (Wilson Center)
In Argentina, one woman is killed every 32 hours according to the Women’s Office of the Supreme Court of Justice. (UN Women)
In Mexico, an average of 10 women a day are killed, and tens of thousands more are missing. (Reuters)
In Latin America and the Caribbean, 12 women and girls are killed every day. However, 98% of cases go unprosecuted. (El Pais)
Argentina is among the few Latin American countries that criminalizes femicide, but neither the State-collected Unique Registry of Gender-Based Violence Cases nor other civil society efforts to monitor and document femicide, collect data on violence against women with disabilities. (CGWL)
El Salvador has the highest rate of femicide in the world according to 2017 data from the UNODC, with 13.9 out of every 100,000 women murdered. (UNFPA/UNODC)
Jamaica has the second highest rate of femicide in the world, according to the UNODC, with 11 out of every 100,000 women murdered in 2017. (UNFPA/UNODC)
In the US, 3 women are murdered a day by current or former partners. (Wilson Center)
In 2020, at least 5 Black women and girls were killed daily in the US, a 33% increase from 2019. Of these, 30% of the murders of Black women are committed by intimate partners or family members, and 9 out of 10 murdered Black women knew their killers. (CGWL)
In Canada, the homicide rate among indigenous women and girls (4.3 per 100,00 female population) was almost five times higher than among non-indigenous women and girls in 2021 (0.8 per 100,00 female population), and the situation does not appear to be improving. (UN Women)
In India dowry related killings equal 20 femicides a day – nearly 7000 dowry deaths per day in 2020. (Wilson Center)
Some sources have estimated that as many as 25 000 newly married women are killed or maimed each year as a result of dowry-related violence. (WHO)
In Nepal, Dalit women are disproportionately impacted by allegations of witchcraft and are murdered. (CGWL)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 11 times more likely to die due to an assault and are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family violence than non-Indigenous women. (The Guardian)
In Australia, murder rates for Indigenous women are eight times higher than for their non-Indigenous counterparts, a Senate committee has been told. (The Guardian)
On average, one woman a week is killed by her intimate partner in Australia. (Anrows)
While the statistics show that femicide is a widespread global issue, we mustn’t lose hope – there is plenty that can be done. The CWGL have released a 2022 16 Days of Activism guide highlighting all the actions that individuals, communities, employers, CSOs, the media, and governments can take to help prevent and end femicide.
Start by raising awareness around femicide by sharing this blog post, our explainer blog post on femicide, or any of our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram posts on femicide with the hashtag #Lets End Femicide.
You can also sign the petition to declare December 6th as International Day Against Femicide here.
Together with other feminist organizations and movements, Womankind demands an end to femicide and calls on governments to:
Recognize femicide as a crime to acknowledge its misogynist nature.
Ensure femicide data is disaggregated by sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, and include the relationship of the victim to the perpetrator .
Train health personnel and law enforcement officials to identify and support women, girls and marginalized genders at risk of femicide.
Invest and/or pay attention to intersectional feminist research to understand the social context that allows for femicide to happen to address the structural and systemic patterns that fuel it.
Enact and enforce comprehensive survivor centered laws, policies, administrative and socio-economic measures that guarantee protection from, punishment for and eradication of all forms of VAWG occurring in both public and private settings as this will contribute to ending femicide.
www.womankind.org.uk/resource/a-femicide-factsheet-global-stats-calls-to-action/
For further reading, please see the following resources:
24 November 2022
Violence against women and girls remains one of the least prosecuted and punished crimes in the world. It is “still so deeply embedded in cultures around the world that it is almost invisible,” says the UN, describing it as “a construct of power and a means of maintaining the status-quo”. Indeed, its prevalence has desensitised people to the alarming reality – and the fact that far too often, violence against women and girls in all its various forms, ends in femicide.
To prevent femicide, we need governments across the globe to take action. This means imminent changes to current patriarchal systems and harmful societal norms that allow for femicide to happen: from ensuring our justice systems hold perpetrators accountable, to creating safe and enabling environments for survivors of violence to report what has happened to them so that femicide can be averted. In short, we need gender equality.
“Femicide differs from other forms of murder because it is the gender-related killing of a woman only because she is a woman. This indicates that the root causes of femicide differ from other types of murder and are related to the general position of women in the society, discrimination against women, gender roles, unequal distribution of power between men and women, habitual gender stereotypes, prejudices and violence against women.” – Ivana Milovanović (Serbian judge)
Here are some statistics around femicide. You can share these, as well as Womankind’s demands below, to help us raise awareness and work towards ending femicide.
GLOBAL STATS
Globally 81,000 women and girls were killed in 2021, around 45,000 of them (56%) died at the hands of an intimate partner or a family member. (UN Women)
Every single day, 137 women and girls across the world are killed by a family member or intimate partner (Femicide Census)
The most dangerous place for a woman is the home: it is estimated that around the world, a woman or girl is killed every 11 minutes in their own home. (UNODC)
Six women are killed every hour by men around the world, most by men in their own family or their partners. (weforum.org)
45% of all abortions are unsafe, and could lead to complications, including death, for the woman. In some cases, abortion is essential care, yet bans or lack of access lead to over 800 maternal deaths daily, which are preventable. (CGWL)
In some countries, murder is the second leading cause of death for women at work, while the proportion of women killed by homicide at work is twice that of total workplace fatalities in women. (CGWL)
According to UNODC, female sex workers are 18 times more likely to be killed than women in other professions. (CGWL)
There are an estimated 5000 murders of women in the name of ‘honor’ each year worldwide, although this is believed to be an underestimate. (*‘Honor’-related murders involve a girl or woman being killed by a male or female family member for an actual or assumed sexual or behavioral transgression, including adultery, sexual intercourse or pregnancy outside marriage – or even for being raped. WHO)
Across the world, femicide of transgender women often faces high level of impunity, including the fact that the crimes often go uninvestigated. (CGWL)
Although there is a higher incidence of violence against women with disabilities, femicides of women with disabilities remain a “largely invisible problem, as data on this issue is not consistently collected and remains anecdotal if it is collected at all.” (CGWL)
Girls with disabilities are often the victims of infanticide as “their lives are devalued.” (CGWL)
AFRICA
In South Africa, a woman is killed every four hours.
According to the human rights organization, Centre for Constitutional Rights, the femicide rate in South Africa is five times the global average.
While Asia is the region with the largest absolute number of killings, Africa is the region with the highest level of violence relative to the size of its female population. (UNODC)
More than two thirds of all women (69%) intentionally killed in Africa in 2017 were killed by intimate partners or other family members.
According to UN Women Kenya, an average of eight women died every month in 2019 due to femicide, February being the worst with 17 deaths. (CGWL)
In Egypt, there were 113 cases of women murdered as a result of domestic abuse in 2020, and a total of 165 cases of femicide in that same year. (The Edraak Foundation for Development and Equality)
EUROPE
UK
Men are killing one woman every three days in the UK – a statistic unchanged across the 10 years studied. (Femicide Census)
In the UK, 53% of the perperpetrators of femicide had a history of violence to women in 2020. (Femicide Census)
52% of women in the UK were killed by a current or former partner in 2020. (Femicide Census)
In 2020, 70% of the killings took place in the home in the UK (that of the victim and perpetrator, that of the victim or that of the perpetrator). (Femicide Census)
Between 2018 and 2019, on average 43% of all women killed by current or former partners had left or were in the process of leaving. Separation is a trigger for violent, abusive and/or controlling men. *The real figures are likely to be higher as women don’t always tell anyone that they’re planning to leave. (The Guardian)
Men are killing one woman every three days in the UK – a statistic unchanged across the 10 years studied. (Femicide Census)
In the UK, 53% of the perperpetrators of femicide had a history of violence to women in 2020. (Femicide Census)
52% of women in the UK were killed by a current or former partner in 2020. (Femicide Census)
In 2020, 70% of the killings took place in the home in the UK (that of the victim and perpetrator, that of the victim or that of the perpetrator). (Femicide Census)
Between 2018 and 2019, on average 43% of all women killed by current or former partners had left or were in the process of leaving. Separation is a trigger for violent, abusive and/or controlling men. *The real figures are likely to be higher as women don’t always tell anyone that they’re planning to leave. (The Guardian)
In Spain, femicides have more than doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels: In May 2020, there was 1 femicide every week; in May 2021, this rose to 1 femicide every 3 days. (Wilson Center)
German broadcaster DW reported in November 2020 that ”every day in Germany a man tries to kill his partner or ex-partner. Every third day an attempt is successful.”
The number of femicides in Italy has risen by almost 16% over the past year, with the vast majority taking place in a family context. A woman is killed on average every three days in Italy. (The Guardian)
Poland has the highest rate of femicide in Europe. Approximately 400 femicides were recorded in 2020. (Statista)
MIDDLE EAST
400-500 honor killings take place each year in Iran. Almost always by male relatives. (Wilson Center)
LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN
In Argentina, one woman is killed every 32 hours according to the Women’s Office of the Supreme Court of Justice. (UN Women)
In Mexico, an average of 10 women a day are killed, and tens of thousands more are missing. (Reuters)
In Latin America and the Caribbean, 12 women and girls are killed every day. However, 98% of cases go unprosecuted. (El Pais)
Argentina is among the few Latin American countries that criminalizes femicide, but neither the State-collected Unique Registry of Gender-Based Violence Cases nor other civil society efforts to monitor and document femicide, collect data on violence against women with disabilities. (CGWL)
El Salvador has the highest rate of femicide in the world according to 2017 data from the UNODC, with 13.9 out of every 100,000 women murdered. (UNFPA/UNODC)
Jamaica has the second highest rate of femicide in the world, according to the UNODC, with 11 out of every 100,000 women murdered in 2017. (UNFPA/UNODC)
USA & CANADA
In the US, 3 women are murdered a day by current or former partners. (Wilson Center)
In 2020, at least 5 Black women and girls were killed daily in the US, a 33% increase from 2019. Of these, 30% of the murders of Black women are committed by intimate partners or family members, and 9 out of 10 murdered Black women knew their killers. (CGWL)
In Canada, the homicide rate among indigenous women and girls (4.3 per 100,00 female population) was almost five times higher than among non-indigenous women and girls in 2021 (0.8 per 100,00 female population), and the situation does not appear to be improving. (UN Women)
ASIA
In India dowry related killings equal 20 femicides a day – nearly 7000 dowry deaths per day in 2020. (Wilson Center)
Some sources have estimated that as many as 25 000 newly married women are killed or maimed each year as a result of dowry-related violence. (WHO)
In Nepal, Dalit women are disproportionately impacted by allegations of witchcraft and are murdered. (CGWL)
OCEANIA
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 11 times more likely to die due to an assault and are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family violence than non-Indigenous women. (The Guardian)
In Australia, murder rates for Indigenous women are eight times higher than for their non-Indigenous counterparts, a Senate committee has been told. (The Guardian)
On average, one woman a week is killed by her intimate partner in Australia. (Anrows)
What can be done?
While the statistics show that femicide is a widespread global issue, we mustn’t lose hope – there is plenty that can be done. The CWGL have released a 2022 16 Days of Activism guide highlighting all the actions that individuals, communities, employers, CSOs, the media, and governments can take to help prevent and end femicide.
Start by raising awareness around femicide by sharing this blog post, our explainer blog post on femicide, or any of our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram posts on femicide with the hashtag #Lets End Femicide.
You can also sign the petition to declare December 6th as International Day Against Femicide here.
WOMANKIND’S CALLS TO ACTION:
Together with other feminist organizations and movements, Womankind demands an end to femicide and calls on governments to:
Recognize femicide as a crime to acknowledge its misogynist nature.
Ensure femicide data is disaggregated by sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, and include the relationship of the victim to the perpetrator .
Train health personnel and law enforcement officials to identify and support women, girls and marginalized genders at risk of femicide.
Invest and/or pay attention to intersectional feminist research to understand the social context that allows for femicide to happen to address the structural and systemic patterns that fuel it.
Enact and enforce comprehensive survivor centered laws, policies, administrative and socio-economic measures that guarantee protection from, punishment for and eradication of all forms of VAWG occurring in both public and private settings as this will contribute to ending femicide.
www.womankind.org.uk/resource/a-femicide-factsheet-global-stats-calls-to-action/
For further reading, please see the following resources:
UNODC Global Resource on Femicide
UN Women Gender-Related Killings of Women & Girls Resource 2021
Center for Women’s Global Leadership Global Fact Sheet on Femicide 2022
Center for Women’s Global Leadership Action Guides 2021 and 2022
Wilson Centre Infographic: A Global Look at Femicide
Femicide Census for UK specific information
UNODC and UN Women for measuring the gender-related killing of women and girls
FEMNET and Womankind Worldwide 16 Days 2021 Podcasts
Womankind Worldwide 16 Days 2021 Blog