Two UN reports confirmed the pervasive gender-related killings across the world. Adding to the concerns, the majority of them met their end at the hands of their family members. Out of 81,000 women and girls intentionally killed in 2021-22, 56% had their family members or partners as their murderers. The scenario stood worst in the case of Asia.

Violence against females is no hidden truth. In every nook and corner, one can find a female suffering mental and physical harassment. Countless of them endure their deaths silently. Their shrieks go unheard under the dominance of patriarchy. The world is not unbeknownst to these horrors. However, there are very fewer data to corroborate gender-related killings. Probing this theme, two UN agencies have come up with their report. They confirm the unbridled gender-related violence and killings across the globe.    

It requires a lot of courage to venture into the slush of patriarchy. A few people have the guts to raise their voices against its entrenched evils. Taking up the baton, two UN agencies: UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women have released the findings of their study. They have gone a long way in shedding light on the gender-related killings breathing under cover of gender parity.

According to the findings, most women and girls killed in 2021 had their family members and partners as their murderers. To be precise, out of 81,000 women and girls intentionally killed in 2021, 45,000 (around 56 percent) lost their lives to violence by their family members or partners. Not just that, 11% of male homicides thrived in the private sphere. Therefore, home is not a paradise for many girls and women across the globe. Home and safety do not stand in the same light for many females.

Sima Bahous (Executive Director at UN Women) shared, “Behind every femicide statistic is the story of an individual woman or girl who has been failed. These deaths are preventable – the tools and the knowledge to do so already exist.”

Adding to the gloomy facet, many of these gender-related deaths go uncounted. For instance, there is no information about 4 in 10 women and girls killed intentionally in 2021. This complicates the narrative. Information and timely action hold a crucial place when it comes to averting gender-related killings.

Ghada Waly (the UNODC Executive Director) said, “No woman or girl should fear for her life because of who she is. To stop all forms of gender-related killings of women and girls, we need to count every victim, everywhere, and improve understanding of the risks and drivers of femicide so we can design better and more effective prevention and criminal justice responses.”

Delphine Schantz (Head of the UNODC Office in New York) also emphasized the data problem. Taking on that part, she said, “There's even less data available on gender-related killings committed in the public sphere. Not having enough data makes it harder to stop these crimes and to get an early warning and to develop policy.”

Well, the issue of gender-related killings also brings in regional disparity. These killings in private spaces were rampant in Asia in 2021. Adding to that, women and girls stood at a high risk of gender-related killing in Africa. The rate of these killings in Africa attained the level of 2.5 per 100,000 women female population. On the other hand, it shimmered at 1.4 in the Americas, 1.2 in Oceana, 0.8 in Asia, and 0.6 in Europe.

COVID-19 has vitiated the situation. It pushed up gender-related killings across the world.