Not Countries Or Cities, Home Is Deadliest Place For Women, Says UN

The deadliest place for women is home because a staggering 140 women and girls are killed every day by an intimate partner or family member, according to a report released by UN Women and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime. 

This translates to approximately 51,100 victims globally in 2023, a slight increase from the previous year. On the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published a 36-page report highlighting the alarming rates of domestic violence worldwide.

Africa Recorded The Highest Cases

The report consternated the world, with Africa leading the list with a recorded 21,700 victims in 2023. Asia follows with 18,500, the Americas with 8,300, Europe with 2,300, and Oceania with 300 victims. It is very important to note that these figures only account for the recorded cases. Several unheard cases and instances still go behind close doors, without any notice. 

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Africa also had the highest rate relative to its population, with 2.9 victims per 100,000 people. There were also high rates last year in the Americas with 1.6 female victims per 100,000 and in Oceania with 1.5 per 100,000, it said. Rates were significantly lower in Asia at 0.8 victims per 100,000 and Europe at 0.6 per 100,000. 

The report states that in Europe and the Americas, most women killed at home are victims of intimate partners. In contrast, most male homicides occur outside homes and families.

Understanding the issue at hand

Almost 1 in 3 women globally have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their lives. By the time girls reach the age of 19, nearly 1 in 4 adolescent girls (24%) who have been in a relationship have already endured physical, sexual, or psychological abuse. 

Possible Reasons

UN Women’s Deputy Executive Director, Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, pointed to deeply entrenched gender stereotypes and harmful social norms as the root causes.

“This violence is linked to power over women,” she stated, adding that impunity for such attacks increases the problem, reported the news agency AP.

Gumbonzvanda, a Zimbabwean advocate for women’s rights, explained that when family members are perpetrators, seeking justice becomes complicated as it often requires accountability within the family itself.

The thinking of seeing women as secondary creatures whose purpose is to serve men, is what our society has to change. 

Incidents

In a country like India, Honor Killing is not a new case. The National Crimes Record Bureau’s report for 2020 revealed that 25 cases of “honour killing” were reported in the preceding year. In the previous years, the reports stated that only one incident each took place in 2018 and 2017. But Evidence, an NGO, revealed in November 2019 that as many as 195 known cases of honour killings were reported from Tamil Nadu alone in the past five years. 

Lack of education also plays a significant role. For example, in 2023, a 30-year-old man in Maharashtra killed his 12-year-old sister after seeing her first period blood and confusing it for a physical relationship with a man.