Rise in Gender related killings of Women and Girls

Rise in Gender related killings of Women and Girls

News: Recently, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women released a study titledGender-related killings of women and girls (femicide/feminicide), revealing an increase in gender-related killings of women and girls in 2022.

What is Femicide/Feminicide?
• Femicide, also known as feminicide, is defined as the intentional murder of women because they are women. It can involve different forms of violence, such as domestic abuse, sexual assault, or genocide.
• Femicide is usually perpetrated by men, but sometimes female family members may be involved.

Key Findings:
• Globally, nearly 89,000 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2022, marking the highest yearly number in the past two decades. Despite a decline in overall homicides globally, female homicides are not decreasing.
• Women are more likely to be victims of intimate partner or family-related homicides compared to men.
• While men and boys constitute 80% of global homicides, women represent 53% of killings in the home and 66% of intimate partner killings.
• Africa reported the highest number of intimate partner/family-related homicides of women in 2022, surpassing Asia for the first time in 13 years. The Americas, while reporting fewer cases, exhibited relatively higher rates of such femicides per 100,000 female population.
• Africa, with around 20,000 victims in 2022, surpassed Asia as the region with the highest absolute number of victims. Africa also had the highest number of victims relative to its female population (2.8 per 100,000 women).

India specific findings:
• India experienced a slight decline in gender-based killings over the past decade, although issues like dowry-related deaths, honour killings, and witchcraft accusations persist.
• Dowry-related reasons consistently topped the list as the leading cause of gender-related deaths in India, with honour killings and witchcraft-related murders forming a smaller percentage.

About UNODC:
• The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is a United Nations agency established to address global issues related to drugs, crime, and terrorism. It was established in 1997 through the merger of the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) and the Centre for International Crime Prevention.
• Key Functions – Drug Control, Terrorism prevention, Crime prevention and Criminal Justice, International cooperation, Technical assistance.