EDITORIAL: The 2023 UN report on femicides underlines, all over again, the persistent failure of societies to protect women from the kind of violence that is rooted in patriarchal norms and structural inequities. The report, ‘Femicides in 2023: Global Estimates of Intimate Partner/Family Member Femicides’ points out that 85,000 women were “killed intentionally” last year.
Sixty percent of these homicides, about 51,000, were committed by an intimate partner or family member. It adds that 140 women and girls die every day at the hands of a partner or close relative, which means one girl is killed every 10 minutes.
These are clearly very disturbing figures, because they show that the most dangerous places for women and girls in terms of lethal victimisation are their own homes. This is also a global trend, which means that while some regions might be relatively safe, none can really guarantee safety from this kind of violence against women.
Africa tops the list for 2023 not just in aggregate terms, with an estimated 21,700 victims of intimate partner/family member femicide, but also accounts for the highest number relative to the size of its population. The Americas and Oceania also recorded high rates, at 1.6 and 1.5 per 100,000 respectively, while figures were significantly lower in Asia and Europe, at 0.8 and 0.6 per 100,000, respectively.
It should be noted that even these numbers present rough estimates, at best, because it’s very common for such cases to be under-reported in most backward societies. Often families brush these issues under the carpet to protect their dignity and to stay out of the news and they end up being reported, if at all, under different heads. It’s also concerning that the number of countries reporting data on the killing of women and girls by intimate partners or other family members is increasing very slowly.
The number peaked in 2020 at 75 countries, but subsequently decreased and by 2023 was half the number in 2020. Now, only a few countries are able to produce data on forms of femicide committed outside the domestic sphere in compliance with the UNODC-UN Women Statistical framework for measuring gender-related killings, which presents further complications.
Unfortunately, such crimes, especially honour killings, are only too common in Pakistan, with the state always struggling to allocate resources needed to strengthen legal frameworks, ensure thorough investigations and educate communities to grow out of regressive and harmful gender norms. Civil society, too, has not been able to hold the state accountable for its failure to protect women’s right to life and safety. These trends must change.
The UN’s report should be seen as a call to action. Once people have digested these sobering statistics and gone through the motions of condemning all sorts of violence against women, especially cold-blooded murder in what should be the safety of their homes and families, societies must work to transition from rhetoric to effective interventions that ensure safety for women and justice for victims. It’s when the law fails to punish the guilty, especially, that such crimes take place without check.
Everybody understands the depth of this problem, and what is needed to overcome it. It’s just the will that is lacking.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024