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Sub-Saharan Africa: This region had the highest improvement of all regions in women's parliamentary representation in 2023, growing from 9.8% in 1995 to 27.6% in 2023. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa became the first woman Chairperson of the African Union Commission and Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala became the first female Director-General of WTO. Rwanda continues to be world leader with highest women representation in the parliament, at 63.8%. 34% of the Speakers of Parliament in Southern and East African countries are women and 26% of national legislators are women. The 2023 Gender Parity Index rated sub-Saharan Africa slightly below the global weighted average score, only better than Southern Asia and the Middle East and North Africa.

ILO note s that in the region, the likelihood to be in vulnerable employment is nearly 85% for women, versus 70% for men. Closing the wage and employment gender gap would mean an income increase of 121% for women, valued at some $0.7 trillion. Although women represent 52% of the agricultural labor force, they have little or no land ownership and are further affected by increasing land-grabbing by foreign companies or countries. Low levels of education and qualification makes it very difficult for the region as a whole and for women specifically to escape the poverty vulnerability cycle.

Presently, the average fertility rate in the region is 5.1 and is not expected to drop below 3 by mid-century. With maternal mortality ratio (MMR) at 531 deaths per 100,000 live births, the African Region accounted for 69% of global maternal deaths in 2020. Meeting the SDG of reducing MMR to 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030 will be difficult.

UNICEF reports that sub-Saharan Africa has the highest under-five mortality rates, with some countries such as Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Somalia, having rates over 100 deaths per 1,000 live births (compared to about 37% the global average.)

Violence against women is widespread and, in most cases unreported. In South Africa, there are an estimated 50,000 cases of sexual assault per year. Rape and sexual assaults are even more acute in the conflict-torn zones, mostly in the DRC, Sudan, and Nigeria (with Boko Haram) and the neighboring areas. Sexual violence is used as a weapon and continues with impunity. In some Muslim communities, mostly in Egypt and Uganda, female genital mutilation and cutting is still practiced, despite increased international opposition. With over 144 million of victims, Africa accounts for the largest share of the world's over 230 million cases of female genital mutilation, reports UNICEF.

Improved education system and investments for paid-job opportunities (mainly for the youth), increased social spending (in some countries, where only 4 to 6% of the GDP is allocated to social protection benefits); improved infrastructure systems (mainly water, sanitation, and electricity), and enforcement of gender-equity regulations are some basic changes needed to improve the status of women in Africa.

Middle East and North Africa: Women's rights in the MENA region remains critical and even worsening in some countries with the rise of religious extremism and expanded enforcement of the Sharia law.

The region has the lowest gender parity of any region. In 2024, on the labor market, the Arab States have the lowest female participation rate in the world, at 11.7% (compared to 66.2% for men), reports ILO. The income gap is also the largest in the world, with Arab women earning just 12.5% of the income earned by Arab men.

Tunisia is the first Arab country to have a woman as head of government (2021), although after the 2022 electoral law that removed the requirement for candidate lists to be gender-equal, women representation decreased from 31% in 2014, to just 16.2% of seats following parliamentary elections in 2022 and 2023, notes IPU.

Stoning to death is still used as a legal form of punishment for "adultery" in several Muslim countries, and the purdah (female seclusion) and namus (virtue) customs persist in many Arab regions. Sexual harassment, rape, and sexual violence by ISIS and other extremist groups and security forces across the region have reached intolerable levels. The Middle East has an estimated 6 million case s of female genital mutilation. However, these are increasingly being challenged by empowered women, the outcry of the global society, and women's-rights icons such as Malala Yousafzai.

In the Arab MENA region, philosophical, ethnic, and ethical assumptions have to change in order to make possible the structural transformations needed to improve the status of women. The international community could use sanctions and conditioned-aid, conditioned-partnership in international organizations and business partnerships to help accelerate the long-due change.

Asia and Oceania: High incomes and education levels in countries like Japan challenge old family structures. However, women occupy only 14.7% of senior leadership positions in Japan. If women participated in the economy equally to men, Japan's GDP could grow by 16%. Together with the Republic of Korea (where women hold 10% of leadership positions), they launched the Gender Parity Task Forc e to improve women's career opportunities.

According to the 2024 Global Gender Gap report, Japan rose from 125th place in 2023 to 118th place in 2024. Republic of Korea rose from 107th place in 2023 to 94th in 2024. and China rose one position from 107th place in 2023 to 106th in 2024. The region's best performers were New Zealand ranked 4th, followed by Australia (24th), and the Philippines (25th), while the worst performers were Maldives (132) and Pakistan (145).

The East Asia and Paciﬁc region have nearly closed enrollment gaps between girls and boys in primary, secondary, and tertiary education, with girls even outperforming boys in some countries. However, in South Asia, only Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Bangladesh have reached gender parity in primary schools, reports UNESCO. China has closed the gap for primary education, and reached 46.6% parity in the ninth year of schooling. Women in China were 45.17% of the labor force in 2022 (up from 43.5% in 2020). An estimated 19% of executives in China are women compared to the world average of 25%. Only a quarter of researchers in East Asia and the Pacific Rim are women.

Although all countries of South Asia have ratiﬁed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, UNDP reports that gender inequality causes a 60.1% loss in human development in the region, while ActionAid estimates that closing the wage and employment gaps would mean a 73% income gain valued at some $4.3 trillion. Central Asia has closed 69.1% of its gender gap in 2022. WHO notes that the region has about 30% of the world's maternal deaths, the world's second worse, after Africa.

Mainly due to the dual legal civil and religious systems in many parts of Asia early and forced marriage, violence, discrimination with respect to inheritance and land ownership, dowry issues, and honor killings continue to be prevalent and unpunished. In Afghanistan, the criminal law prevents prosecutions for domestic violence, forced and child marriage, and there were calls to overturn the Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women for being counter to Islam. This prejudice against women costs Afghanistan about $1 billion per year. The project "Engaging Young Men through Social Media for the Prevention of Violence against Women" aims to end gender-based violence in Asia and the Pacific by using social media.

Bias in favor of sons continues to be of concern in many countries of the region. Given new policies, India's sex ratio is expected to improve from 943 in 2011 to 952 by 2036. China's one-child policy worked to reduce fertility rate, but the Communist Party leadership ended the policy and allowed married couples to have three children as of May 2021. However, if they have more children, women worry about employment discrimination.

Eastern and South-Eastern Asia have about 22% women legislators, Oceania has 20%, Central and Southern Asia has 19%, and Western Asia has 18%. After adopting the political quota system, the share of women in the parliaments of Central Asian countries increased from none to over 20%, although they still have to struggle with the reminiscent patriarchal structures.

Europe: Gender parity is an important part of the structural changes in Europe. With a score of 76.3%, the region has the best world's gender parity. Five countries - Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Germany - have closed at least 80% of their gap. Women hold the top positions at the European Commission and the European Parliament. However, due to the 2024 elections, the proportion of women in the European Parliament has decreased for the first time ever, to 38.75% of the MEPs. Only the Greens/EFA group is at parity, with 50.9% female MEPs.

In the EU, companies listed on stock exchanges have to have at least 40% of women among non-executive directors or 33% among all directors. The European Institute for Gender Equality that monitors the situation found that in 2022, the share of women on the boards of the largest publicly listed companies registered in the EU reached 32.2%.

In the EU, 43% of those aged 25 to 34 had a degree in 2023; women represented about 60%. In 2022, 48% of women versus 37% of men had tertiary education. On secondary school, an average of 83% of women reached upper secondary school, compared to 77.5% of men. However, the gender pay gap persists, with women earning on average 12.7% less per hour than men in 2022. This also impacts living standards, with the risk of poverty or social exclusion being 22.3% for women compared to 20.3 % for men, in 2023.

Nevertheless, Europe has the best social policies, including childcare, maternity leave, and health care. Scotland was the first country to legislate free period products for those in need.

A 2021 study found that 1 in 10 women (11 %) in the EU-27 have experienced cyber harassment or cyber stalking since the age of 15, while 4 to 7% of women have experienced cyber harassment during the past 12 months, and between 1 and 3% have experienced cyber stalking. Physical violence against women also remains a concern, mainly since the waves of new immigrants.

About 80% of Russian women aged 16 to 60 years are employed and comprise 48.6% of employment. Women account for 43.4% of Russians with a PhD.

Latin America: The region continues to progress since 2017, with a 1.7% increase in 2023, bridging 74.3% of its overall gender parity. Women's participation in Latin American parliaments has improved due to the introduction of quotas in many countries. Argentina, Brazil, and Chile elected women heads of state. As of mid-2024, only four countries of the region surpassed 40% of women members in national parliaments.. In Mexico, 38% of the Chamber of Deputies are women and the President's Reform Initiative recommends that 50% of all political parties' candidates for popular positions should be women. Women held 1.6% of CEO position and 14.5% of corporate broad of directors in 2023. The 2024 Global Gender Gap report indicates that the region has closed 74.2% of the gender gap.

More women than men attain tertiary education across the region, but only 52% of working-age women participate in the labor force in 2024 compared to 75% of men. Gender pay gaps also persist; women still earn 26% less than their male peers. Rural and indigenous women work unpaid at least 16 hours a day. Despite economic and political progress, women's well-being continues to be hindered by machismo political and social structures and women easily become victims of organized crime in various forms. At least 4,473 women were killed by their husbands or relatives in 2021 in the region, up from 1,678 in 2014. As a result of restrictive legislation, one in three maternal deaths is due to abortion, and the lifetime risk of maternal death is 0.4%.

North America: The region ranks second behind Europe overall having closed 75% of the gender gap, though it is 1.9% lower than the previous edition, with the U.S. 2.1% and Canada 0.2% declines. Women's share of the total labor force in North America was 46.6% in 2023 (46.5 in the U.S and 47.4% in Canada). Women earn more than their partners in about 10% of dual-earning households in the U.S. and 33% in Canada, as many women have higher education level than men and their number in senior management positions is increasing. However, only 5.8% of women hold CEO positions at S&P companies in the U.S., and 69.9% of mothers with children under age of 18 were working, compared to 92.7% of fathers. Silicon Valley has the largest pay gap in the U.S. with an earnings difference of $40,584 between genders. Women earn 78% of what men earn for comparable work, and the wage gap is worse for women of color. The gap was largest for Hispanic and Latina women who were paid 54% of what white men earned. Based on the trends of the past half-century of progress, the Institute for Women's Policy Research estimates that the U.S. national wage gap will close around the year 2058. States vary significantly, with projections to 2038 in Florida and 2159 in Wyoming. The Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA) passed the House of Representatives on April 15, 2021 by a vote of 217-210, but failed in the Senate in June 2021 in a procedural vote.

Women's representation in the U.S. Senate in 2024 is 25% (25 Senators) and 29% (126 of 435) Congressional Representatives. Canada has 30% women in the House of Commons - the highest percent in its history, but only 1 (in Alberta) of 13 provincial premiers are women. Both the U.S. and Canadian governments made critical cuts in domestic and international family planning programs for women. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, as of May 2024, abortion is banned in 14 states, gestational limit between 6 and 12 weeks in 5 states, limit between 15 and 22 weeks in 6 states, and abortion is legal beyond 22 weeks in 25 states and D.C. The U.S. is among the countries with the costliest childbirth, most expensive day care, and the shortest parental leave. Among 41 nations, the U.S. is the only country which doesn't mandate national regulations or government-provided paid parental leave. These problems are even more critical as the share of one-parent families in the U.S. has increased; children living with a single mother is the second most common family arrangement. More than half of single mothers are living in extreme poverty.

Canada provides maternity or parental benefits. According to the Employment Insurance Maternity and Parental Benefits policy (except for Quebec Provence), which has its own parental insurance plan), the EI benefits generally pay 55% of one's average insurable weekly earnings, up to a maximum amount. Employers must give parents a minimum number of weeks for maternity, parental, and adoption leave. But employers don't have to pay them during such times. More than 40% of new parents surveyed said they could not afford maternity leave, and 81% of those who took the leave and returned to work, would have stayed on leave longer if they could have afforded it. The employment rate of mothers in Canada with young children in one-parent families reached 62% in 2021, and they earn less than women without children In the U.S.. Violence against women was reduced by 55% since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994.

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Global Challenge 11 - The Millennium Project

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Global Challenge 11 is to empower women and drive social evolution. It is essential for addressing all the global challenges facing humanity.

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This link provides helpful information with data and stats about women.

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The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality, the rights and the empowerment of women.

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Now that I know the status of women and how they have been targeted I want to focus on femicide and how they have been impacted globally.

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Femicide in the United States: a call for legal codification and national surveillance

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Femicide refers to the intentional gender-related killing of women and girls (1). Despite the high prevalence of female murder victimization in the United States (U.S.) (2, 3), the U.S. lags behind other nations in defining and documenting gender-related female homicides (4). While efforts are underway within the criminal justice and public health sectors to better track violent deaths, deficient surveillance systems limit efforts to estimate the annual incidence of femicide in the U.S. Here, we position femicide as a preventable death that should be treated as a social and public health problem and a distinct form of homicide in the legal code. This approach is especially salient, given the documented increase of non-lethal intimate partner violence (IPV) in major cities (5) and nationally (6) during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating the collateral impacts of public-health crises on violence against women (VAW).

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This provides interesting facts about the regions and places with data on killings.

"400-500 honour killings take place each year in Iran. Almost always by male relatives. (Wilson Center)"

"In South Africa, a woman is killed every four hours."

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A Femicide Factsheet: Global Stats & Calls to Action - Womankind Worldwide

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Creating a better future for women and girls around the world

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Now that I know femicide is a global thing I want to choose a topic to focus on. For example where it is affected majorly (Honduras).

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The reason why I chose this link was, because why is femicide high in Iran and middle eastern countries.

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Killed Because You Are a Woman—Violence Against Women in Iran Reaches New Heights

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Killed by husbands or fathers for fleeing an abusive forced marriage, seeking a divorce, or allegedly “dishonoring” the family, women are being killed in Iran by male family members in alarming numbers. The Iranian government is complicit in this violence, as it refuses to take legal or practical measures to address a crisis affecting women across the country. This CHRI briefing examines the skyrocketing cases of femicides across Iran, and the laws and policies in Iran that not only fail to protect women from this lethal violence, but encourage it.

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Status of Womens rights in the Middle East.

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Status of Womens rights in the Middle East.

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Previous question led me to why is there high rates in the Middle East.

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The Status of Women’s Rights in the Middle East • Stimson Center

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Women’s rights advocates can point to the progress made in their neighboring countries to advance their own aims for dignity and independence.

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Right now women and men around the world are part of an unprecedented movement for women's rights, equality and justice. From global marches to social media campaigns like #MeToo, women are raising their voices in unison, calling out sexual harassment, organizing for unequal pay and women's political representation.

The theme for this year's International Women's Day, 8 March, is "Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women's lives". Join us to celebrate women's rights activists everywhere, embrace your inner activist and empower the women in your life.

The #TimeisNow.

1) Raise your voice

Whether you're talking to your friends and family, or engaging with an advocacy organization, the most important way to be an advocate is speaking up. By raising your voice for women's rights and gender equality, you can spread awareness and break down barriers.

Jaha Dukureh, an activist and UN Women's newest Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa, is leading the movement to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and child marriage. Jaha first started speaking out against child marriage when she was barely 10, when she snuck out to the local television station to talk about how girls in her community should not be forced to marry.

FGM is a cultural practice that involves cutting off parts of female genitalia, condemning girls and women to a lifetime of health consequences. In many parts of the world, it's also a prelude to child marriage.

"It wasn't until I was pregnant with my daughter, that I started to speak out against FGM. I didn't want my daughter to ever have to go through what I had. I also knew there were millions of girls out there, just like me and my daughter, and no one was speaking for them. If it wasn't going to me, who else would do that?" Jaha says. "I started to speak out, I started to shout."
Read the full story ►
2) Support one another

Every day since 2015, Ayah al-Wakil, a lawyer working at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza Strip, has gone to court to file cases on behalf of survivors of violence.

Ayah participated in a training with the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, supported by a UN Women/UNDP joint programme, to defend women's rights at the Shari'a court, which deals with family matters codified in the Personal Status Law relating to marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance. After her training, Ayah chose to remain at the Centre to continue working with survivors of violence.

"If you find yourself in a place that allows you to make a real difference in other women's lives, obstacles will not stop you anymore," says Ayah. "I became determined to improve women's lives in my hometown and started to look for opportunities."

Supporting women and those that empower women, is essential to achieving gender equality. Whether you're like Ayah al-Wakil and working with women to navigate the legal system, or supporting women entrepreneurs in your community, you can make a difference.
Read the full story ►
3) Share the workload

Empowering women can start in your own home.

From cooking and cleaning, to fetching water and firewood or taking care of children and the elderly, women carry out at least two and a half times more unpaid household and care work than men. As a result, they have less time to engage in paid labour, or work longer hours, combining paid and unpaid labour. Women's unpaid work subsidizes the cost of care that sustains families, supports economies and often fills in for the lack of social services.

It's time we recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work performed by women that is foundational to all societies. Men, let's step it up and redistribute this equally! 🙋‍♂️ https://t.co/QbuiuFIQrt #PromisesToAction #GlobalGoals pic.twitter.com/43kn1iivQv
- UN Women (@UN_Women) February 19, 2018

Encourage everyone in your life to split all unpaid work 50/50 between men and women so that they can both thrive, rest, work and feel empowered.

4) Get involved

Running in a local election, like Coumba Diaw in Senegal, or supporting candidates who understand women's unique needs in your community is a critical way to ensure women's rights.

Despite growing up listening to a rhetoric that restricted women from participating in politics and public life, Coumba knew the importance of women's leadership, and became the only woman Mayor in the Louga region of Senegal.

"They said that a woman couldn't run for elections. They said that a widowed woman couldn't be a Mayor...that a woman did not have the skills to manage a community. I have proved them all wrong," Coumba says.

As mayor, Coumba works to inspire other women, and brings attention to women's issues in the community. She worked to free up women's time through the installation of drinking taps, and set up a weekly market for women vendors.
Read the full story ►
5) Educate the next generation

Youth activists around the world are stepping it up for gender equality. By empowering young advocates, and educating them about women's rights, we can ensure a better future for all.

In Kyrgyzstan, Aigul Alybaeva is doing her part to advance women's rights and gender equality by supporting her daughter's participation in a school-based programme that works to empower girls, generate inter-generational dialogues and change attitudes about child marriage.

"We try to support her, create an enabling environment at home, so that she gets the time she needs to study, prepare for her assignments," Aigul says of her relationship with her daughter. "Feminism is in her character. She knows her rights and she shares with me what she learns in school."

Aigul's daughter, Aiturgan Djoldoshbekova, has learned about women's legal rights in her country and wants to pursue a career in law. She also knows the importance of sharing her knowledge with others.

"It is important that girls know their rights. I want us all to be feminists and work together to stop violence against women and girls," Aiturgan says. "What I learn in school, about rights, I share with my younger brother. He too should know his rights. I tell him that we have to take an absolute stand against violence."
Read the full story ►
6) Know your rights

Charo Mina-Rojas is a Colombian activist who works tirelessly to educate grassroots Afro-descendant communities of Colombia on Law 70 of 1993, which recognizes their cultural, territorial and political rights.

Following the historic peace agreement in 2016, which ended the more than 50-year conflict between the Government of Colombia and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Charo advocates for justice and equality for Colombia's afro-descendent women.

"Afro-descendent women were not at the negotiation table from the beginning, but in the end, we managed to include a specific chapter on the ethnic perspective," Charo says.

"Do I think that the peace agreement will be implemented? Yes, I trust that it will. But it needs to be implemented in a way that acknowledges the diversity of the Colombian people, and of women, and respect their rights. This means, providing access to land and property that they can use in accordance to their own cultural practices and traditions, and consulting the local communities before infrastructure projects are developed."
Read the full story ►
7) Join the conversation

In 2017, we saw the power of social media campaigns in changing attitudes and raising awareness. By sharing your stories and amplifying the voices of others who do, you can make a difference.

While the #MeToo movement and #TimesUp made waves in the United States, activists in other countries found the conversation met with some resistance. To keep the conversation going, six women's rights activists in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia came up with their own hashtag and started a national campaign.

Ana Vasileva, a women's rights activist and a member of the feminist collective, Fight Like a Woman, and other activists kicked off a social movement in fYR Macedonia against sexual harassment, under the hashtag #СегаКажувам (#ISpeakUpNow).

"The campaign showed the magnitude and prevalence of sexual harassment, and also exposed the subtle ways in which this behaviour is normalized and internalized," Ana says. "Our movement too faced criticism. Most notably, some people criticized us for not revealing the names of the offenders. But our goal is not about punishing a few individuals, but to bring real change in people's attitudes and the system so that there is no more social tolerance towards this violence."
Read the full story ►
You can join the conversation about International Women's Day using the hashtags #TimeIsNow and #IWD2018.

8) Give to the cause

Every woman and girl deserves the opportunity to live a life free from violence and discrimination. Your donation can help UN Women break the cycle of violence, assist survivors, and drive economic inclusion and equal rights for women and girls everywhere.

Donate now at donate.unwomen.org/en
For more stories, interactive experience and infographics, visit UN Women's In Focus page.

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Eight ways you can be a women's rights advocate today, and every day

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Right now women and men around the world are part of an unprecedented movement for women's rights, equality and justice. From global marches to social media campaigns like #MeToo, women are raising their voices in unison, calling out sexual harassment, organizing for unequal pay and women's political representation.

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Africa has a high rate of femicide due to their geographic location and resources followed along with political factors.

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Femicide and Reproductive Violence Harm African Women, Girls

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International African Women’s Day on July 31 recognizes the contribution of African women toward political, social, and economic freedom on the continent. But gender equality is still not a reality for most African women.

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Femicide in Asia is more of a socio-cultural norm everyone sees, it happens due to the suburb areas.

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United Nations : UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific

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Over 18,000 women killed by family or intimate partners in Asia in 2023, UN report reveals

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Over 18,000 women killed by family or intimate partners in Asia in 2023, UN report reveals

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Femicide or the homicide of females has been stable or not increasing in Europe.

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Patterns of Female Homicide Victimization in Western Europe - International Criminology

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Recent years witnessed an increase in attention to femicide, or the killing of women because of their gender. Prior empirical studies have drawn attention to the prevalence of female homicide victimization, but most have been unable to give a detailed overview of the specific contexts in which women are killed, and to what extent female homicide victimization is unique, i.e., in that it differs from male victimization. This exploratory study aims, first, to map the nature and scope of female homicide in six European countries: Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland; and, secondly, to compare female homicide victimization with male homicide victimization. Using data from a new uniform homicide recording system, the European Homicide Monitor, this study allowed for unique cross-country comparisons and a detailed breakdown by victim-offender relationship, and type of homicide. Results indicated that female homicide victimization rates remained relatively stable during the last decade, with a narrowing gender gap. Furthermore, results reflected substantial heterogeneity in the context in which women were victimized. Finally, female homicide victimization differs in many respects from male victimization, but overlaps do exist. Such heterogeneity, and possible overlaps with male victimization call for differential approaches.

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I decided to start searching for more countries in Central America that are affected by femicide and how can it improve for the whole society (women).

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Through all the research Central America is one of the highest rates of female deaths.

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Before I was thinking on doing femicide in Middle East or Asia, but now I see is a major problem and a normal thing in Central America like Honduras.

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This emphasizes how its a global Challenge and not only through domestic violence between partners or family members, but through gun violence.

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An average of five women or girls are killed every hour by someone in their own family, according to UN data. And often their murders are intrinsically linked to them being women. Some countries are now passing laws to specifically criminalise femicide - an extreme manifestation of gender-based violence.

The first documented use of the term "femicide" was in an 1801 book by Irish writer John Corry called A Satirical View of London at the Commencement of the Nineteenth Century where it was used to refer to the killing of a woman. The term was brought back in the 1970s by Diana E.H. Russell, a specialist in violence against women, who worked to highlight the magnitude of male violence and discrimination against women.

While no agreed definition of the phenomenon exists, femicide is broadly defined as the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender. This might be as a result of intimate partner violence or killing in the name of "honour", for example.

Since the UN adopted resolution 68/191 in 2013, calling for nations to take action against gender-related killing of women and girls, many high-income countries have introduced femicide laws.

In 2022, Cyprus integrated femicide into the criminal code as a distinct crime and rendered gender-related killings an aggravating factor when imposing sentences. That same year, femicide was introduced in Malta's criminal code. It can now be considered a motivation of the crime of homicide, and in such cases, the judge can consider the highest form of punishment - life imprisonment.

Croatia is the most recent country to adopt a dedicated femicide law, making it a standalone offence punishable with a prison sentence of ten years or more.

Latin America and the Caribbean have some of the highest rates of hate killings of girls and women. In response, 18 of the 33 countries in the region have created new legislation classifying femicide as a distinct hate crime.

Costa Rica became the first country to pass a law making femicide a legally defined crime in 2007. A man who murders his wife or partner can be punished with between 20 and 35 years in prison. There are also specific punishments against physical abuse and restriction of movement, in which a partner manipulates a woman to prevent them from leaving.

Laws are not enough

A report from Queen Mary University of London used the case study of Mexico to argue that the law alone has not led to the reduction of femicide there. The key findings from this report should certainly act as a crucial resource to not only understand the complexity of femicide as an extreme form of gender-based violence but to increase efforts to better respond to it.

One of the main problems is the misclassification of numbers. In many cases, only gender-related killings perpetrated by an intimate partner or family member are counted as femicides.

This leads to under-reporting and invisibility of femicide that happens as part of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, hate crimes linked to sexual orientation, killing of indigenous women or connections with gangs and other forms of organised crime.

Costa Rica has sought to address this problem by signing into law an extended definition of femicide, which includes femicides perpetuated by those based on a relationship of trust, friendship, authority or power. This is to make it possible to punish crimes against women even if there is no "romantic" relationship between the perpetrator and the victim.

Today, Costa Rica has a lower rate of femicide compared with its neighbours, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico.

While the social and political circumstances of countries around the world may differ, there are several lessons in combating femicide that are universal.

The term "feminicide" also carries political connotations. In Latin America it is used to refer to a lack of responsiveness from governments in relation to the killings of women and girls.

The idea of femicide emphasises state culpability and inadequate responses to this gender-based violence. This is particularly noteworthy as the rape and murder of women and girls are commonly used as abominable tools of conflict - this has recently been in evidence in Ukraine, for example.

Given that most femicides are perpetrated by current or former husbands or intimate partners, it is of utmost priority to tackle toxic masculinity and to promote gender equality. Clearly, we need to go beyond the legal framework to combat violence against women and girls. It will take advocacy and active participation of community members to create long-term solutions to curtail femicides.
This article has been amended to remove the popular but incorrect claim that the phrase "rule of thumb" has its origins in an English legal precedent related to domestic abuse.

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Femicide: many countries around the world are making the killing of women a specific crime - here's why it's needed

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Croatia has become the latest in a string of nations to make killing women because of their gender a specific offence.

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This goes in depth of how gun laws have increased the murders of women.

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State gun ownership rates linked to murders of women

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Women in states with higher rates of gun ownership are at greater risk of being killed by people they know than those in states where a smaller percentage of people own guns. And ownership rates alone explain 40 percent of the variation in women's homicide victimization rates, compared to only 1.5 percent of the variation in men's victimization rates, according to a new study.

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This explains why femicide is happening in the first place, and how is it being challenged.

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In 2023, Africa recorded the highest rates of intimate partner and family-related femicide, followed by the Americas, and then by Oceania. In Europe and the Americas, most women killed in the domestic sphere (64 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively) were victims of intimate partners, while elsewhere, family members were the primary perpetrators.

"Violence against women and girls is not inevitable-it is preventable. We need robust legislation, improved data collection, greater government accountability, a zero-tolerance culture, and increased funding for women's rights organizations and institutional bodies. As we approach the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 2025, it is time for world leaders to UNiTE and act with urgency, recommit and channel the resources needed to end this crisis once and for all", highlighted UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous.

"The new femicide report highlights the urgent need for strong criminal justice systems that hold perpetrators accountable, while ensuring adequate support for survivors, including access to safe and transparent reporting mechanisms," said Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC. "At the same time, we must confront and dismantle the gender biases, power imbalances, and harmful norms that perpetuate violence against women. As this year's 16 Days of Activism Campaign begins, we must act now to protect women's lives."

The 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action in 2025, coupled with the fast-approaching five-year deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, presents a critical opportunity to rally all stakeholders to take decisive and urgent action for women's rights and gender equality. This includes ending impunity and preventing all forms of violence against women and girls.

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One woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by their intimate partner or family member | UN Women - Headquarters

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New York, 25 November 2024 - On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November, the report Femicides in 2023: Global Estimates of Intimate Partner/Family Member Femicides by UN Women and UNODC reveals that femicide-the most extreme form of violence against women and girls-remains pervasive globally.

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In Guatemala in 2016 war on women struck on a orphanage for girls. Which emphasizes how much femicide there is in Guatemala.

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Girls killed in shelter fire are the latest victims of Guatemala’s war on women

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Who is responsible when 43 girls burn to death in a state-run children’s home?

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Mexico also has one of the persistent femicide in the world. Compared to Guatemala is about the same.

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Mexico's drug cartels are often described as powerful rivals to the state, with their influence measured in weapons, money and murdered officials. But this framing misses a fundamental truth. Organised crime in Mexico is also a system of gendered governance - one that disciplines, controls and sometimes eliminates women to consolidate power.

The term "narco-femicide" captures this brutal dynamic. Narco-femicide refers not simply to the killing of women, but to the strategic use of gendered violence by criminal organisations to enforce social norms, maintain control and assert dominance in the absence - or even with the complicity - of the state.

According to a study by Lantia Intelligence, a Mexico-based data intelligence firm, organised crime was responsible for 60% of femicides in Mexico in 2020. That year, 1,891 women were violently murdered by drug cartels - an increase of nearly 40% compared to 2018.

These murders are not private tragedies, nor are they collateral damage. They are political acts, central to how criminal sovereignty in Mexico is exercised and reproduced.
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Mexico has one of the highest rates of femicide in Latin America. According to Amnesty International, approximately ten women were murdered there every day throughout 2020. In cities such as the border town of Ciudad Juárez, which was once labelled the "femicide capital of the world", these deaths are marked by sexual violence, mutilation and public display.

The causes of femicide in Mexico do vary. But a significant proportion of these murders occur in regions such as Jalisco, Guerrero and Chihuahua, where there is a strong cartel presence. The correlation is no coincidence.

As the Atlantic Council, an international affairs thinktank, observed in 2024: "in areas [of Mexico] controlled by drug cartels, violence against women intensifies". It added that families often won't report abuse or rape "out of fear of retribution".

The same article said that cartels turn attacks on women into "a tool of intimidation and a display of dominance", warning the community not to defy them. The impunity of cartel violence, and examples of brutal public punishment, enforce an unwritten code that women must "know their place".

Femicide in cartel-run areas follows a distinct pattern. Women are punished for being too visible, independent or defiant of the patriarchal order imposed by criminal groups. The victims include journalists, business owners and others who pose no military threat but represent a challenge to social control by in some way defying the cartels.

One prominent example is Marisol Macías, a journalist who was killed in 2011 in the border city of Nuevo Laredo after denouncing local gangs on the internet. She was decapitated and a handwritten sign was left beside her body saying she was killed in retaliation for her social media posts.

More recently, in July 2024, Minerva Pérez Castro, the president of an advocacy group for Mexico's fishing industry, was shot dead hours after making public comments about the presence of illegal fishing in the state of Baja California. Organised crime groups have long participated in illegal fishing in northern Mexico.

Even when women are involved in organised crime, their roles remain precarious. They are valued only insofar as they serve the cartels' interests, and are easily disposed of if they become liabilities.

A 2016 report by Amnesty International found that gangs routinely recruit vulnerable young women to do "the lowest and most dangerous tasks", such as smuggling drugs or acting as lookout, precisely because they are "considered expendable if arrested".

Where is the state?

What makes narco-femicide in Mexico so devastating is not just the violence itself, but the vacuum when it comes to accountability - or worse - the actual collusion of the state. In many regions of Mexico, law enforcement is unwilling or unable to investigate femicides.

Disappearances go unrecorded and families face indifference or hostility when demanding answers. In fact, according to Amnesty International, more than 90% of femicides in Mexico go unpunished. This impunity is a structural failure.

The boundary between criminal and state power is blurred in regions where there is a strong cartel presence. Police, politicians and criminal groups often operate in overlapping networks, leaving little space for genuine accountability.

Meanwhile, Mexico's security strategy has been heavily shaped by the US-funded Mérida Initiative. Signed in 2007, the initiative deepened security assistance from the US to Mexico to fight organised crime.

The Mérida Initiative officially ended in 2021, but Mexico's strategy remains focused on military operations against crime groups and the arrest of cartel kingpins. This has diverted attention from much-needed reforms in local policing and justice, perpetuating impunity and weakening trust in institutions.

By failing to protect women, the state effectively legitimises the cartels' patriarchal rule. As a result, many Mexican women are living under a shadow legal system enforced by cartel violence, one where stepping outside the lines can carry deadly consequences.

Narco-femicide demands a response that moves beyond militarised crackdowns and technocratic reforms. Mexico needs policies that prioritise community-based justice, survivor-led advocacy and gender-sensitive policing. The experiences of women and frontline defenders need to be central in both research and public the debate.

The problem also needs to be named for what it is. Narco-femicide is not a private horror or a cultural anomaly. It is political violence that is perpetrated systematically and strategically.

If organised crime governs through the control and erasure of women, then any meaningful resistance must begin by making that violence visible. Cartels and the state must both be held accountable, and these deaths must not be treated as inevitable.

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Mexico's cartels use violence against women as a means of social control

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Violence against women is central to how criminal sovereignty in Mexico is exercised and reproduced.

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Femicide in Peru has been constant in 2016 as well. Being a part of the Latin America section Peru is still being affected like the rest.

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For many women in Peru, violence is a part of life. Daily harassment on the streets, sexual abuse of minors, trafficking of women and girls, and the sexual, physical, emotional, and economic abuse of women in their own homes are all prevalent, but have been largely ignored by authorities and society alike. Now, in the wake of two high profile cases in July 2016 when men who attacked women received light sentences, civil society is rising up against the violence that permeates women’s lives. On August 13, a demonstration is scheduled in downtown Lima to oppose violence against women.

The Peruvian mobilisation is the latest chapter of a movement that has spread across Central and South America. It was sparked by the murder of Mexican poet and activist Susana Chávez Castillo in 2011. Castillo had coined the phrase Ni una mujer menos, ni una muerte más (“not another death, not a woman less”) in the 1990s in protest to a unprecedented spate of unsolved murders of women in Juarez, Mexico.

Four years after Castillo was tortured and killed in the same city, activists in Uruguay, Mexico, Chile and Argentina began organising campaigns and demonstrations to protest against femicide and violence against women more generally, using her slogan Ni una menos. In May 2016, after the shocking gang rape of a girl in Rio de Janeiro was filmed and posted on the internet, Brazilian activists organised demonstrations in a similar fashion. Now it is Peru’s turn.

Two cases spark protest

In both of the cases that have sparked the Peruvian movement, the attacks were horrific, but the courts decided to give the men suspended sentences because the forensic evidence suggested the harm done was “minor”.

In the first case, in the highland city of Ayacucho, a woman called Cindy Contreras was assaulted by her boyfriend, who beat her up when she tried to flee the hotel where he had taken her. Harrowing footage from security cameras shows Adriano Pozo, naked, dragging her by her hair through the reception area in a video that was circulated widely on the internet. Contreras reported the assault and the man was captured and tried. But, in July 2016 a judge gave Pozo a suspended sentence, arguing that the nature of Contreras’s wounds suggested that he had not intended to rape or kill her.

The second case was that of Lady Guillen, who endured assaults by her boyfriend for a year before reporting the violence when she felt her life was in danger. Pictures of her disfigured face, with stitches around her eyes, were published in the newspapers and circulated widely in Peru. Again, the judge considered Guillen’s wounds minor, and decided, also in July this year, that her life was not in danger. The aggressor, Ronny García, was released after four years in pre-trial imprisonment.

Both carry their physical and psychological wounds on their bodies and now live under the constant threat of retaliation from these men. The national mobilisation around their cases protects them somewhat, as now, for once, the perpetrators are in the spotlight. But they are not the only ones. According to national surveys, almost 40% of Peruvian women experience physical and sexual violence in their lives. If psychological and verbal abuse is included, the number increases to 70% in both rural and urban areas, and in all social strata. If we count all the “common” daily aggressions such as sexist jokes in the media and in politics, catcalling or harassment in public transport, then all Peruvian women experience such violence.

Peru has had enough

On a Sunday morning in July 2016, Jimena Ledgard, Elizabeth Vallejos and Natalia Iguiñiz set up a Facebook page with the aim to organise a national demonstration similar to those that had been held elsewhere in Latin America, emblematically called Ni una menos. The site gained more than 45,000 members in five days, and by now almost 60,000. The page quickly evolved from an organisational platform into a place where women could share experiences. New testimonies about the most intimate experiences of violence and historic child abuse are added every other minute. It is a shocking read.

Femicide occurs throughout Central and South America. In Guatemala, estimates suggest that 700 women are killed each year, out of a population of 15.5m. Honduras and El Salvador have similarly high levels of femicide. In Peru, estimates range from 100 to 150 women killed every year.

As elsewhere in Latin America, Peruvians are starting to say no to one of the most persistent and devastating forms of violence and inequality in the world. The mobilisation has important parts of the media and private sector on its side, adding pressure on the state and society alike. It is already working: the judiciary has promised a special prosecutor for cases of femicide and is investigating the sentences in the Contreras and Guillen cases. In the end, a general shift in public opinion and societal norms around the legitimacy of all forms of violence against women and girls needs to take place for policies and programmes to be effective. These mass mobilisations are an important step in that ongoing process.

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Anger at violence against women in Peru spills over into protest

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Peru is the latest country in Latin America where women are mobilising against violence.

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Other than Latin America being affected, violence still strikes in South America and Central.

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Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

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At Least 11 Women Are Victims of Femicide Every Day in Latin America and the Caribbean

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La Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) es una de las cinco comisiones regionales de las Naciones Unidas para coordinar y contribuir al desarrollo económico de la región.

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According to stats Honduras has the highest femicide rate.

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Femicide rate in Latin America by country 2023 | Statista

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Honduras was the Latin American country with the highest femicide rate as of 2023.

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At this point in my topic exploration, I want to research femicide which, when addressed, would help solve MPGC #11. Currently, focusing on this issue in Central America is most appropriate because it has the highest rate in many cities in that region, and the geographic location is very crucial. A promising solution or initiative is creating laws and raising more awareness because women need to be represented equally among all types of people in this world.

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What is the relationship between machismo culture and the high rates of femicide in Honduras?

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How does state level apathy, and current corruption with police in judicial systems affect the cycle of femicide in Honduras?