Femicide / feminicide
Femicide, or feminicide, is an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation. It is the most extreme and brutal manifestation of violence against women and girls, occurring in all countries and regions.
Femicide happens on a continuum of multiple, interconnected forms of violence affecting women and girls. These occur in both private and public spaces and include intimate partner violence, sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence, harmful practices, and trafficking for sexual exploitation. Femicide often represents the final, fatal act in a series of violent acts.
Stereotyped gender roles, discrimination against women and girls, unequal power relations, and harmful social norms drive femicide. Persistent gaps in early risk detection and assessment, coupled with weak or inconsistent legal and institutional responses to violence against women, allow patterns of abuse to escalate and too often culminate in femicide. It has become a pervasive form of violence against women and girls.
With an alarmingly high number killed by intimate partners or family members, the home remains the most dangerous place for women and girls.
Underestimating the risks
Despite its deadly consequences, femicide goes mostly undetected in official figures. Reporting generally underestimates the true scale of the problem due to variations in legal definitions, investigative practices, and data. For instance, many countries only classify intimate partner- or family-related killings as femicide.
Accurate and comparable assessments are vital. Using the UN statistical framework for measuring femicide at the national, regional, and global levels would help identify systemic failures and improve prevention strategies, support services, and access to justice.
Prevention is possible
Gender-related killings and other forms of violence against women and girls are not inevitable. Prevention is possible with early interventions, survivor-centred support and protection, and gender-responsive policing and justice systems. Measures such as restraining orders against abusive partners can be critical in stopping violence from escalating into femicide.
Once violence has occurred, survivor-centred services provide safety, protection, and means to recover. Services intentionally designed to uphold women’s rights can significantly reduce the risk of further violence and strengthen protective factors.
Comprehensive prevention strategies require urgent investment. Broadly, they include:
- holistic support for survivors
- reforms in policing and justice
- efforts to address the root causes of violence
