NAIROBI, Kenya – Many African nations are hosting events to mark the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism, an annual global campaign to eradicate violence against women and girls worldwide. November 25–December 10 is when it takes place.
It is not surprising that globally, approximately 51,100 women and girls were killed by their intimate partners or other family members during 2023.
Higher than the 2022 estimate of 48,800 victims, this change is not indicative of an actual increase, mainly due to data availability differences at the country level.
A new report by United Nations Women shows that the 2023 figure means that 60% of the almost 85,000 women and girls killed intentionally during the year were murdered by their intimate partners or other family members.
“In other words, an average of 140 women and girls worldwide lost their lives every day at the hands of their partner or a close relative. Women and girls everywhere continue to be affected by this extreme form of gender-based violence, and no region is excluded,” the report reads in part.
What are the GBV statistics in Africa
With an estimated 21,700 victims of intimate partner/family-related femicide in 2023, the UN agency said that Africa is the region with the highest number of victims in aggregate terms.
“Moreover, Africa continues to account for the highest number of victims of intimate partner/family-related femicide relative to the size of its population (2.9 victims per 100,000 in 2023),” the statement reads.
The Americas and Oceania United Nations Women also recorded high rates of intimate partner/family-related femicide in 2023, at 1.6 and 1.5 per 100,000, respectively, while the rates were significantly lower in Asia and Europe, at 0.8 and 0.6 per 100,000, respectively.
“Beyond the killing of women and girls by intimate partners or other family members, other forms of femicide exist,” the statement further reads.
In recent years, some countries have begun to quantify other forms of femicide by implementing the UNODC-UN Women Statistical Framework for measuring gender-based killings.
Why intimate lovers are to blame for GBV
In France, for example, the UN agency observed that during the period 2019–2022, 79% of all female homicides were committed by intimate partners or other family members, while other forms of femicide accounted for an additional 5% of all female homicides.
Similarly, exploratory research in South Africa indicates that femicides outside the domestic sphere accounted for 9% of total female homicides in 2020–2021.
Due to a lack of sufficient data in other regions, time trends in intimate partner/family-related femicide can only be monitored in the Americas and Europe at present.
In the former, the 37-page report showed that the rate of intimate partner/family-related femicide has remained relatively stable since 2010, while it decreased slowly in Europe (-20%) between 2010 and 2023 as a result of slowly declining trends in countries of Northern, Eastern, and Southern Europe.
“The intentional killing of women in the private sphere in Europe and the Americas is largely committed by intimate partners. Out of all women killed by intimate partners or other family members in those two regions in 2023, 64% were murdered by their intimate partners in Europe and 58% in the Americas,” the report reads.
In the rest of the world (based on available data), the report on femicides in 2023 shows that women and girls are more likely to be killed by family members (59%) than by their intimate partners (41%).
“This emphasises the need to ensure that the prevention of domestic violence addresses intimate relationships as well as family contexts where women are at higher risk.”
