The United Nation (UN) announced on Thursday that about 89,000 women and girls lost their lives to violence in 2022 worldwide. This is the highest number of femicides ever recorded in the last 20 years, according to the UN report.
The report, released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), highlighted the persistent gender inequalities and violence that women and girls face in different regions and contexts.
“Each life lost is a call to action, a plea to urgently address structural inequalities, to improve criminal justice responses, so that no woman or girl fears for her life because of her gender,” said Ghada Waly, the Executive Director of UNODC, in a statement.
The report also revealed that more than half of the female victims, around 55 per cent, were killed by their intimate partners or family members, compared to only about 12 per cent of male homicide victims. This means that a woman is more likely to be killed by someone she knows than by a stranger.
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The report also showed that Africa had the highest number of femicides, with around 20,000 cases, followed by Asia. The report urged governments and civil society to take urgent actions to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, and to ensure justice for the victims and survivors.