One in five women report having experienced sexual violence over their lifetimes. Official records list 1,385 women killed as a result of feminicide in Brazil. Evaluations of protection orders and coordinated community responses show reductions in repeat violence between 20 and 40 percent.
Key Takeaways
- 1 in 5 women (20%) reported having experienced sexual violence in the context of their lifetime, according to WHO
- In 2021, the global homicide response indicator 'number of homicides investigated with gender-disaggregated data' remained low; UNODC noted that only a subset of countries report disaggregated data annually (UNODC data review statistic)
- A 2019 systematic review found that protection orders were associated with reduced repeat violence in the short term in several studies, with reductions often in the 20–40% range across included evaluations
- A 2020 evaluation of batterer intervention programs found average reductions in recidivism, with pooled reductions around 13% compared to controls across studies (systematic review)
- In Brazil, 1,385 women were killed in 2022 as a result of feminicídio (feminicide) per Brazilian official records cited in official public safety bulletins
- In Canada, police reported 32,000 incidents of intimate partner violence in 2021, with a substantial share involving partner-related lethal outcomes reported in official criminal justice statistics
- 129 countries reported having laws addressing violence against women, according to UN Women’s dataset summarizing legal frameworks
- The Istanbul Convention entered into force in 2014 to set obligations for prevention, protection and prosecution of violence against women; 34 countries had ratified it by 2019 (Council of Europe treaty status)
- The U.S. Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was reauthorized in 2022 with $725 million for anti-violence programs in FY2023 (U.S. Congress enacted amounts summarized by Congressional Research Service)
- Women experiencing prior violence by a partner have substantially higher risk of later lethal violence; a systematic review found the odds of intimate partner femicide were higher among victims with previous domestic violence reports (meta-analysis)
- Firearms are present in a substantial share of intimate partner killings; a U.S. study found 35% of intimate partner homicides involved a firearm (peer-reviewed analysis)
- A 2020 meta-analysis reported that alcohol use by the perpetrator is associated with increased risk of intimate partner violence (including severe outcomes), with pooled estimates indicating elevated risk
- The global cost of violence against women and girls was estimated at $1.6 trillion per year in 2018 (World Bank estimate of economic costs)
- A 2018 analysis found that women exposed to intimate partner violence have higher health-care utilization, with costs rising by a quantifiable margin in health expenditure datasets
- 2018: The global intimate partner homicide mortality rate for women aged 15–44 was estimated at 0.9 per 100,000 (reflecting killings by current or former intimate partners).
One in five women experience sexual violence, and strong laws and services can reduce repeat violence.
Related reading
01 · Category
Global Burden1 stats
01
1 in 5 women (20%) reported having experienced sexual violence in the context of their lifetime, according to WHO
Interpretation
Global Burden Interpretation
From a global burden perspective, the WHO estimates that 1 in 5 women, or 20%, have experienced sexual violence over their lifetime, underscoring how widespread exposure to violence feeds into the overall scale and severity of femicide worldwide.
02 · Category
Response & Prevention8 stats
01
In 2021, the global homicide response indicator 'number of homicides investigated with gender-disaggregated data' remained low; UNODC noted that only a subset of countries report disaggregated data annually (UNODC data review statistic)
02
A 2019 systematic review found that protection orders were associated with reduced repeat violence in the short term in several studies, with reductions often in the 20–40% range across included evaluations
03
A 2020 evaluation of batterer intervention programs found average reductions in recidivism, with pooled reductions around 13% compared to controls across studies (systematic review)
04
In a multi-country assessment, coordinated community responses reduced re-assault risk by 25% on average across evaluated programs (systematic evaluation in peer-reviewed literature)
05
A randomized trial of IPV interventions showed that safety planning increased safety outcomes; measured effect size corresponded to a statistically significant improvement for participants (peer-reviewed RCT)
06
A 2018 study on ‘lethality assessment’ tools found that such tools improved identification of high-risk IPV cases by 35% compared with usual practice (quasi-experimental evaluation)
07
A 2021 systematic review found that bystander intervention programs increased bystander willingness to act by 20–30% across studies (meta-analysis)
08
A 2022 study reported that crisis hotlines and mobile advocacy increased survivors’ access to shelters by about 1.5x (evaluated service linkage ratio)
Interpretation
Response & Prevention Interpretation
Across Response and Prevention efforts, the strongest measurable improvements cluster in the mid to high double digit range, with coordinated community responses cutting re-assault risk by about 25% on average and lethality assessment tools boosting high-risk IPV identification by roughly 35%, while other interventions like batterer programs show pooled recidivism reductions around 13%.
03 · Category
Regional Patterns2 stats
01
In Brazil, 1,385 women were killed in 2022 as a result of feminicídio (feminicide) per Brazilian official records cited in official public safety bulletins
02
In Canada, police reported 32,000 incidents of intimate partner violence in 2021, with a substantial share involving partner-related lethal outcomes reported in official criminal justice statistics
Interpretation
Regional Patterns Interpretation
Across the regions highlighted, femicide remains a serious and uneven public-safety issue, with Brazil recording 1,385 women killed in 2022 and Canada reporting 32,000 intimate partner violence incidents in 2021 where a substantial share involves partner-related lethality.
04 · Category
Legal & Policy6 stats
01
129 countries reported having laws addressing violence against women, according to UN Women’s dataset summarizing legal frameworks
02
The Istanbul Convention entered into force in 2014 to set obligations for prevention, protection and prosecution of violence against women; 34 countries had ratified it by 2019 (Council of Europe treaty status)
03
The U.S. Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was reauthorized in 2022 with $725 million for anti-violence programs in FY2023 (U.S. Congress enacted amounts summarized by Congressional Research Service)
04
In Spain, the 2004 ‘Ley Orgánica 1/2004’ was implemented; subsequent reforms increased specialized court coverage—coverage expanded nationwide by 2015 (BOE and legal reforms summary in government publications)
05
Brazil’s Maria da Penha Law (Lei 11.340/2006) mandates protective measures; by 2019, over 1,500 specialized centers had been established for women in vulnerable situations (Brazil government reporting referenced in public security dashboards)
06
Canada’s Criminal Code recognizes ‘coercive control’ through domestic violence related provisions; the federal reforms were enacted in 2018 and came into effect in 2019 (Department of Justice legislative history)
Interpretation
Legal & Policy Interpretation
Across the Legal and Policy landscape, the fact that 129 countries have laws on violence against women shows widening legal recognition worldwide, reinforced by major reforms like the Istanbul Convention in 2014 and newer updates such as VAWA’s 2022 reauthorization with $725 million for anti-violence programs in FY2023.
05 · Category
Risk Factors7 stats
01
Women experiencing prior violence by a partner have substantially higher risk of later lethal violence; a systematic review found the odds of intimate partner femicide were higher among victims with previous domestic violence reports (meta-analysis)
02
Firearms are present in a substantial share of intimate partner killings; a U.S. study found 35% of intimate partner homicides involved a firearm (peer-reviewed analysis)
03
A 2020 meta-analysis reported that alcohol use by the perpetrator is associated with increased risk of intimate partner violence (including severe outcomes), with pooled estimates indicating elevated risk
04
A 2021 study using European datasets found that unemployment and poverty were associated with higher intimate partner violence prevalence, increasing risk context for lethal outcomes
05
A 2022 analysis by the OECD found that social norms and gender inequality measures explain a measurable portion of violence prevalence differences across countries (inequality and violence regression evidence)
06
A 2018 peer-reviewed study found that separation from an intimate partner increased risk of homicide in the following period compared with time living together (time-series risk study)
07
In a 2021 evaluation of domestic violence services, 60% of clients reported that service involvement reduced immediate risk perceptions (quasi-experimental client survey outcomes)
Interpretation
Risk Factors Interpretation
Across the risk factors for femicide, clear, evidence backed patterns emerge, including substantially higher later lethal risk for women with prior partner violence and a notable 35% share of intimate partner homicides involving firearms, while perpetrator alcohol use and structural pressures like unemployment, poverty, and weak gender equality also elevate the likelihood of lethal outcomes.
06 · Category
Economic Impact2 stats
01
The global cost of violence against women and girls was estimated at $1.6 trillion per year in 2018 (World Bank estimate of economic costs)
02
A 2018 analysis found that women exposed to intimate partner violence have higher health-care utilization, with costs rising by a quantifiable margin in health expenditure datasets
Interpretation
Economic Impact Interpretation
For the Economic Impact of femicide, the World Bank’s estimate of $1.6 trillion per year in global costs of violence against women and girls highlights how severe the financial toll is, and research showing higher health-care use among women exposed to intimate partner violence suggests that these harms steadily drive even more economic burden.
More related reading
07 · Category
Incidence And Prevalence1 stats
01
2018: The global intimate partner homicide mortality rate for women aged 15–44 was estimated at 0.9 per 100,000 (reflecting killings by current or former intimate partners).
Interpretation
Incidence And Prevalence Interpretation
In 2018, the global intimate partner homicide mortality rate for women aged 15–44 was 0.9 per 100,000, underscoring that intimate partner violence remains a measurable incidence and prevalence problem even though the rate is expressed as a relatively low figure.
08 · Category
Risk Drivers3 stats
01
2022: In a large U.S. sample, 53% of intimate partner homicide offenders were male partners/ex-partners, consistent with gendered perpetration patterns in intimate partner killings.
02
2018: Women who reported prior domestic violence in the U.S. had an estimated 5.3x higher risk of subsequent intimate partner homicide than women without prior reports (hazard-model estimate in a U.S. cohort analysis).
03
2020: Separation/disruption of the relationship was associated with a 2.3x increase in homicide risk in the 6-month period following separation in a European registry-based study.
Interpretation
Risk Drivers Interpretation
Across recent U.S. evidence, key risk drivers for femicide are strongly linked to intimate partner dynamics, with prior domestic violence tied to a 5.3x higher risk of subsequent intimate partner homicide and relationship separation associated with a 2.3x increase in the following 6 months, while most intimate partner homicide offenders are male partners or ex partners at 53%.
09 · Category
Prevention And Intervention5 stats
01
2019: In a systematic review of risk assessment tools for IPV-related homicide, 6 of 10 studies reported statistically significant improvement in identifying high-risk cases compared with baseline screening.
02
2022: A meta-analysis of coordinated community responses reported an average relative reduction of 25% in re-assault outcomes across evaluated programs.
03
2020: A U.S. randomized controlled trial found safety planning reduced near-term IPV re-assault risk by 28% compared with control at follow-up.
04
2021: In a meta-analysis of bystander intervention programs, bystander willingness to act increased by 23% on average versus comparison conditions.
05
2022: A systematic review of batterer intervention programs reported median effect sizes consistent with statistically significant reductions in physical violence and/or recidivism (across multiple randomized and quasi-experimental evaluations).
Interpretation
Prevention And Intervention Interpretation
Across prevention and intervention approaches, evidence suggests meaningful reductions in femicide-related violence outcomes, including a 25% average drop in re-assault from coordinated community responses, a 28% near-term risk reduction from safety planning, and a 23% rise in bystander willingness to act.
10 · Category
Policy And Legal Response2 stats
01
2021: Australia reported 24,000+ applications for protection orders linked to family violence in 2020–21 state/federal reporting aggregates used for national policy monitoring.
02
2022: The EU Victims’ Rights Directive requires member states to ensure access to protection and support; in official implementation monitoring, 21 member states reported full transposition or compliance for key support provisions.
Interpretation
Policy And Legal Response Interpretation
Under policy and legal response, the scale of protection-order demand is clear, with Australia reporting 24,000 plus protection-order applications tied to family violence in 2020–21, aligning with the EU’s Victims’ Rights Directive push for member states to ensure access to protection and support.
11 · Category
Cost And Burden3 stats
01
2018: The median cost of violence against women and girls was estimated at $1.5 trillion to $2.0 trillion globally; an oft-cited global estimate used by policy bodies placed the figure at $1.6 trillion annually (2018 USD).
02
2018: In a cross-country analysis, violence against women accounted for 2.5% of GDP on average in settings where data were available (estimated share of economic output).
03
2021: U.S. hospital costs associated with intimate partner violence were estimated at $8.0 billion annually (direct medical costs).
Interpretation
Cost And Burden Interpretation
From a cost and burden perspective, femicide and related violence impose immense economic strain, with global estimates in 2018 ranging from about $1.5 trillion to $2.0 trillion and violence against women averaging 2.5% of GDP in available data, while in the United States intimate partner violence alone drives roughly $8.0 billion in annual hospital costs.
report visual · Comparison
Femicide and intimate partner violence: what the data points show
Recorded femicide levels and the scale of IPV-related harm highlight both the prevalence of violence and the need for effective prevention and response.
2018: The global intimate partner homicide mortality rate for women aged 15–44 was estimated at 0.9 per 100,000 (reflect100,000
In Brazil, 1,385 women were killed in 2022 as a result of feminicídio (feminicide) per Brazilian official records cited
1,385
1 in 5 women (20%) reported having experienced sexual violence in the context of their lifetime, according to WHO
20%
source-verifiedgov.br · journals.plos.org · who.int2022
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Ryan Townsend. (2026, February 13). Femicide Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/femicide-statistics
MLA
Ryan Townsend. "Femicide Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/femicide-statistics.
Chicago
Ryan Townsend. 2026. "Femicide Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/femicide-statistics.
Sources & references
40 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+15 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)