Global and Regional Estimates of Female Intimate Partner and Family-Related Homicide

• Published date: 01 May 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10439862241245821
• Author: Maurice Dunaiski,Camelia Abdelgelil,Andrada-Maria Filip,Natalia Ivanova,David Rausis,Sonya Yee,Angela Me
• Date: 01 May 2024

https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862241245821

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2024, Vol. 40(2) 352 –363

© The Author(s) 2024

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DOI: 10.1177/10439862241245821

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Article

Global and Regional Estimates

of Female Intimate Partner

and Family-Related Homicide

Maurice Dunaiski1, Camelia Abdelgelil1,

Andrada-Maria Filip1, Natalia Ivanova1,

David Rausis1, Sonya Yee1, and Angela Me1

Abstract

Based on national data collected by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

(UNODC) from 105 countries and territories, this study estimates that nearly

49,000 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other

family members in 2022. Using annual data from the Americas and Europe as well as

monthly data from 14 countries in various regions, the study also shows that regional

and national trends in female intimate partner/family-related homicide were highly

heterogeneous during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. UNODC produces

global and regional estimates of female intimate partner and family-related homicide

to shed light on the magnitude of the problem and to inform advocacy, policies, and

programs to end such killings.

Keywords

femicide, gender-related killings, global estimates, COVID-19

Introduction

Gender-related killings of women and girls, also referred to as femicide and femini-

cide,1 represent the most extreme manifestation of gender-based violence, and they

often follow previous experiences of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse (Dawson &

Vega, 2023). Prior studies have estimated the global prevalence of intimate partner and

non-partner violence against women based on population surveys (García-Moreno

1United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria

Corresponding Author:

Maurice Dunaiski, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Wagramer Str. 5, 1220 Vienna, Austria.

Email: maurice.dunaiski@un.org

1245821CCJXXX10.1177/10439862241245821Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeDunaiski et al.

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