Around 50,000 women and girls were killed by a partner or close relative in 2024, roughly one every ten minutes, according to new UN figures published on Monday, which warn that there has been no meaningful progress in combating femicide.

In total, 83,000 women and girls were intentionally killed worldwide last year, with 60% dying at the hands of an intimate partner or family member, according to a joint report by UN Women and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime released for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

This means approximately 50,000 victims were killed by partners or relatives in 2024, equivalent to 137 deaths every day.

The estimate, based on data from 117 countries, is slightly lower than the figure recorded for 2023 (51,100). However, the UN stresses that this decline should not be interpreted as real progress, explaining that the variation is likely due to differences in data availability rather than an actual reduction in killings.

Both organisations expressed concern that global numbers have barely shifted despite years of international commitments to address the issue. They warn that tens of thousands of women and girls continue to lose their lives to femicide with no signs of improvement, and highlight that the home remains the most dangerous place for women in terms of homicide risk.

While women accounted for 20% of all homicide victims worldwide in 2024, 60% of female victims were killed in a domestic setting. In contrast, only 11% of homicides involving male victims occurred in similar circumstances.

No region is unaffected, but Africa once again recorded the highest number of femicides committed by partners or relatives, with an estimated 22,000 cases.

UN Women director of policy, Sarah Hendriks, noted in a press release that femicides often follow a pattern of escalating abuse that may start with coercive control, threats, or harassment, including online. The organisations' report emphasises that the growth of certain digital technologies has intensified existing forms of violence and given rise to new ones, such as the unauthorised sharing of images and personal data and the use of AI-generated deepfake videos.

Hendriks warned that online abuse does not remain confined to the digital world, as it can escalate offline and, in the worst cases, contribute to fatal violence. She argued that preventing these killings requires legal frameworks that recognise the full range of violence experienced by women and girls, both online and offline, and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable before the abuse becomes deadly.