Femicides in 2024: Global estimates of intimate partner/family member femicides

Violence against women and girls is the most widespread human rights violation, and femicide is its most extreme and preventable form, often following a pattern of prior abuse.

This latest UNODC–UN Women research report provides new global and regional estimates of women and girls killed by intimate partners or other family members, with updated data for 2024. It estimates that around 50,000 women and girls were killed in the private sphere in 2024—about 60 per cent of all intentional killings of women and girls—meaning an average of 137 women and girls are killed every day by someone in their own family. Africa records the highest rates relative to female population, while trends can currently be tracked only in the Americas and Europe due to data gaps elsewhere.

The report also highlights how technology-facilitated violence—such as cyberstalking, coercive control, and image-based abuse—can be a risk factor that escalates offline and, in some cases, leads to femicide.

The report calls for urgent, coordinated prevention:

• strong legal frameworks,
• specialized justice responses,
• multi-agency risk assessment,
• survivor-centred services,
• firearms restrictions, and
• public campaigns that challenge harmful norms.

The report underscores a critical accountability gap in global data—fewer countries are reporting femicide statistics—warning that every victim must be counted to strengthen prevention, ensure justice, and end impunity.