Global Study on Homicide: Gender-Related Killing of Women and Girls

The study provides an overview of the scope of gender-related killing of women and girls. It provides an in-depth analysis of killing perpetrated within the family sphere and examines forms of gender-related killings perpetrated outside the family sphere. It looks into the characteristics of the perpetrators of intimate partner killings, the link between lethal and non-lethal violence against women, and the criminal justice response. The study found that even though men are the principal victims of homicide globally, women continue to bear the heaviest burden of lethal victimization as a result of gender stereotypes and inequality. Many of the victims of “femicide” are killed by their current and former partners, but they are also killed by fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters and other family members because of their role and status as women. The death of those killed by intimate partners does not usually result from random or spontaneous acts, but rather from the culmination of prior gender-related violence. Jealousy and fear of abandonment are among the motives. This study highlights what more can be done to prevent those killings. A more comprehensive range of coordinated services needs to be provided by police, criminal justice systems, health and social services.