Commentary on New UN Report on Global Femicide
Last month NCCADV’s Nisha Williams and Lizzie Sager met with Akilah Davis from ABC11 EyewitnessNews to share insights on a new report from the United Nations on global rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) deaths and family member femicide. The UN report reveals an estimated 140 women and girls are killed daily by a partner or family member globally. This amounts to one death every 10 minutes. This means 85,000 women and girls were killed globally last year, and 60% of these deaths were by someone they knew. This is likely an undercount as the UN report describes that 50% fewer countries are reporting or publishing data on IPV homicide.
This echoes underreporting of IPV in the US, where the National Crime Victimization Survey found that about half of victimizations were not reported to the police and therefore don’t show up in crime reports. Domestic Violence (DV) homicide rates in North Carolina have seen an alarming increase since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that also parallel what is reported in the UN report (see the table below.) Firearms were used in at least 3 out of every 4 DV homicides in NC since 2020. Firearm access is directly connected to these DV homicides because access to firearms increases the lethality of a DV situation by 500% (Campbell et al, 2003).
NC Homicide Reports*:
| Year | Total DV Homicides | Firearm Deaths |
| 2018-2020 | Average 57 per year | 70% |
| 2021 | 67 | 75% |
| 2022 | 52 | 71% |
| 2023 | 73 | 77% |
| 2024 (Jan-Nov) | 83 | 75% |
*See our DV Homicide page for more detailed information
Intimate partner homicide or femicide is the most extreme outcome of abuse. These women and girls are very likely experiencing other forms of abuse – physical, emotional, financial, or even reproductive abuse before it escalates to homicide.
To prevent violence against women and girls, efforts must focus on primary prevention strategies that address the root causes of the issue. This includes promoting economic stability and creating opportunities to reduce the economic-related family and relationship stress that can influence violence against children and intimate partners. Additionally, prevention efforts must work to change harmful societal norms and attitudes through strategies like educational curricula in schools or community settings starting from an early age, media campaigns, and the intentional incorporation of gender analysis into programs, laws, and policies.
Learn more about NCCADV’s 6 Key Strengths Framework for violence prevention at www.preventviolencenc.org
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