New Delhi: A shocking new report released jointly by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women reveals that one woman or girl was killed every 10 minutes by an intimate partner or family member in 2024, underscoring a global epidemic of gender-based violence that shows no signs of decline.
According to the 2025 Femicide Brief, 83,000 women and girls were intentionally killed worldwide last year, and 137 of them were murdered every single day by someone within their own household—partners, husbands, boyfriends, or other family members. Despite years of international promises, conventions, and awareness campaigns, the report states that levels of violence against women have remained “stubbornly unchanged.”
Released on Tuesday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the findings paint a grim picture of widespread femicide as one of the world’s most persistent and under-addressed human rights violations.
UN agencies warn that the true scale of the crisis may be even worse, as data collection remains limited in many countries and thousands of killings go unrecorded or misclassified. The report emphasizes that women and girls face the highest risk of lethal violence in places where they should be safest—their own homes.
The UN calls for urgent, coordinated global action, including stronger laws, better protection systems, and investment in prevention programs. It also stresses the need for improved policing, early warning mechanisms, and community-level interventions to protect women before violence turns fatal.
Advocates say the latest numbers should serve as an international wake-up call.
As the world observes the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the UN urges governments to transform commitments into concrete measures, reminding leaders that “every 10 minutes, another woman’s life depends on it.”