The number of women and girls killed by a loved one has increased, a new United Nations (UN) report shows.
Last year, 51,100 women or girls were killed by family members or intimate partners, up from 48,800 in 2022, according to the report from UN Women, the UN body dedicated to gender equality, which was released on Monday, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The 2023 figure equates to 140 women or girls dying each day at the hands of a partner or close relative, which means one woman or girl was killed every 10 minutes.
Home was deemed the most dangerous place for women by the report, while most male homicides happen outside of the domestic space.
While the majority of female homicides were committed by family members or partners, only around 12 percent of men were killed by close relations or partners.
"This emphasizes the need to ensure that the prevention of domestic violence addresses intimate relationships as well as family contexts where women are at higher risk," the report said.
In the report's press release, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said, "Violence against women and girls is not inevitable—it is preventable. We need robust legislation, improved data collection, greater government accountability, a zero-tolerance culture, and increased funding for women's rights organizations and institutional bodies."
"As we approach the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 2025, it is time for world leaders to unite and act with urgency, recommit and channel the resources needed to end this crisis once and for all", she added.
The continent with the highest rate of intimate partner and family-related female homicides was Africa, accounting for almost half of the total femicides.
The regions with the next highest rate of female homicide by family members or intimate partners was the Americas and then Oceania.
In the Americas and in Europe, more female victims were killed by intimate partners, while elsewhere, more women and girls were murdered by family members
In France it was found that 79 per cent of all female homicides were committed by intimate partners or other family members between the years of 2019 to 2022.
However, the number of countries reporting data on the killing of women and girls by intimate partners or other family members has been decreasing since 2020.
Out of the 75 countries reporting the data in 2020, only half of those were reporting data in 2023, the report added.
Prior to 2020, the number of countries reporting on killings of women and girls by their partners or family members was gradually increasing.
The report noted that "due to a lack of sufficient data in other regions, time trends in intimate partner/family member femicide can only be monitored in the Americas and Europe at present."
Newsweek has contacted the UN Women press office and Washington, D.C., office via email for comment.
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