In a stark finding, a new UN report has revealed that globally some 50,000 women were killed last year at the hands of intimate partners or family members, urging greater coordination between police, justice and social systems to better protect women and girls.
Globally, about 87,000 women lost their lives in homicides (intentional killings) in 2017, according to the Global study on homicide: Gender-related killing of women and girls, issued by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The study also found that tangible progress in protecting and saving the lives of female victims of homicides has not been made in recent years, despite legislation and programmes developed to eradicate violence against women.
“Women continue to pay the highest price as a result of gender inequality, discrimination and negative stereotypes [...] they are also the most likely to be killed by intimate partners and family,” said Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of UNODC, calling for targeted criminal justice responses to prevent and end gender-related killings.
Among its conclusions, the report calls for greater coordination between police and the justice system as well as health and social services and emphasizes the importance of involving men in the solution, including through early education.
The International Day
In December 1999, the UN General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, inviting governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to hold activities designed to raise public awareness on the issue.
The Day also commemorates the brutal assassination in 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).
