New UN Study Finds Home Is The Most Dangerous Place For A Woman

A new study released by the United Nations claims home is the most dangerous place for a woman as more than half the women who were murdered worldwide last year were killed by their partners or family members.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported a total number of 87,000 female homicide cases worldwide in 2017. Surprisingly, some 50,000 or 58 percent were committed by the victims’ intimate partners or family members, equating to 137 per day or six per hour. In fact, intimate partners accounted for around 30,000 or 34 percent of the deaths alone.

“This amounts to some six women being killed every hour by people they know,” the UN body said.

According to UNODC executive director Yury Fedotov, gender inequality, discrimination and negative stereotypes were the main reason behind female homicide.

“While the vast majority of homicide victims are men, women continue to pay the highest price as a result of gender inequality, discrimination and negative stereotypes,” said Fedotov in a statement.

As per data collected by the UNODC, the global rate of female homicide victims stood at around 1.3 victims per 100,000 female population. The study found that Africa and the Americas were the regions where women were most at risk of being killed by intimate partners or family members. The rate was around 3.1 victims per 100,000 female population in Africa,, while the rate was 1.6 victims in Americas, 1.3 in Oceania and 0.9 in Asia. Europe recorded the lowest with 0.7 victims per 100,000 female population.

The UN body concluded  that no tangible progress has been made in recent years to combat the scourge despite legislation and programmes developed to eradicate violence against women. The study highlighted the need for effective crime prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against women. It also called for greater coordination between police and the justice system as well as health and social services.