A woman or a girl is killed by an intimate partner or a family member every 11 minutes, and the magnitude of gender related killings remains unchanged over the years, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) data.
According to the data, 81,000 women and girls were killed in 2020, around 47,000 of them (58 per cent) died at the hands of an intimate partner or a family member in 2020 and the magnitude remains unchanged.
HIGHEST NUMBERS
Asia is the region with the highest number of victims (18,600) in absolute terms. When looking at the number of victims per 100,000 female population, Africa has the highest, 2.7 per 100,000, and Europe with the lowest rate of 0.7 per 100,000 of women and girls killed by intimate partners or someone from their family.
The UNODC data showed that eight out of ten of all homicide victims are men or boys. However, women and girls are the primary victims of lethal violence at home in every part of the world, accounting for six out of ten killings committed by intimate partners or other family members, the UNODC said.
EUROPE/AMERICAS
With respect to the trends in Europe and America, the data showed decrease n Europe and an increase in the other region. Europe witnessed a 13 per cent decline in gender related killings of women and girls in the private sphere
over the past decade, while the Americas saw an increase of nine per cent. However, the data said that it was difficult to trace the trends in other regions because of limited data availability.
The UNODC data also covered the impact of COVID-19. The data mentions an increase of 11 per cent killings of women and girls in the family from 2019 to 2020 in Western Europe. It showed an increase of five per cent in Southern Europe and determined no change in Northern Europe. It also pointed out at a slight decrease in Eastern Europe. With respect to America, the data showed a eight per cent increase in Northern America, three per cent in Central America and five per cent in South America. 
The UNODC has come up with four areas of intervention in addressing the issues related to killings of women and girls;
- Closing data gaps in gender‐related killings of women and girls:
- Preventing and addressing gender‐based violence by intimate partners or other family members:
- Ensuring effective prosecution and sanctions for perpetrators of gender‐related killings
- Investing in evidence‐based prevention of gender‐based violence against women and girls
