Femicide/These EU countries consistently report the highest rates

2025-12-03 17:03:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Many European countries are taking tough measures against direct and indirect violence against women. In the EU, women are murdered almost twice as often as men when the perpetrator is a partner or family member.

The latest figures from Eurostat show a rate of 4.1 women murdered per million inhabitants, compared to 2.2 men.

Latvia consistently reported the highest rate of femicide across the bloc in both 2022 and 2023 — about 17 women for every one million people — further analysis by Europe in Motion found.

Neighboring Lithuania had the second highest rate in both years, with 10 women for every one million inhabitants, followed by Austria with nearly five in 2022 and 2023.

Femicide/These EU countries consistently report the highest rates

Which continent reports the highest rate of femicide?

Apart from Malta, the lowest EU rates were found in Greece (1.8 in 2022 and 2023), Spain (2 in 2023 and 2.1 in 2022) and the Netherlands (2.3 in 2023 and 2.4 in 2022).

Over the last decade, the number of such murders has remained relatively stable in the EU, with a peak in 2022, when 4.4 women were murdered per million people.

Globally, Africa stands out as the continent with the highest rate of femicides — 30 per million inhabitants — and the largest absolute number of victims: about 22,600 in 2024, according to the United Nations (UN).

The Americas and Oceania also recorded high rates of family- or partner-related femicides in 2024 (15 and 14 per million, respectively), while rates were lowest in Asia (7) and the wider European continent (5).

Indirect violence/ What is it and which countries are trying to combat it?

In response to public pressure and increased awareness, several European countries have recently proposed or introduced tougher laws to combat violence against women - including France, Spain and Italy.

Last week, Rome passed a law that provides for life imprisonment when the killing of women results from, for example, a woman's refusal to engage in a relationship or accept restrictions on her personal freedom.

The day before, after a week marked by four murders of women, French lawmakers proposed a bill with over 50 new measures to combat domestic violence. France reported an 11% increase in deadly attacks against women between 2023 and 2024.

The country's Minister of Gender Equality, Aurore Bergé, said that the new legislation, in addition to protecting women from physical violence, should also protect them from other types of control, such as the closure of bank accounts, GPS tracking and online stalking.

The Spanish government took similar action in September with a bill aimed at codifying so-called indirect gender-based violence; in other words, malicious acts committed to control or intimidate the victim.

The proposed changes would bring prison sentences of up to three years.

Previously, in 2023, Croatia and Belgium also amended their legislation to officially recognize gender-based violence.

How does 'femicide' differ from conventional murder?

On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, on November 25, the UN called such attacks on women a "global epidemic."

The organization said that last year, "every 10 minutes, partners and family members intentionally killed a woman."

According to the UN, women and girls are more likely to be killed by someone they know: 60% of perpetrators of femicides in 2024 were intimate partners or family members, including extended relatives such as uncles.

The scale of the crisis in recent years prompted the creation of a special category for such killings: "femicide," which is defined by the UN as an intentional killing motivated by gender-related factors: for example, "unequal power relations, gender stereotypes, or harmful social norms" that can put women in a more vulnerable position./ CNA

Taken from Euronews.com