Malta At The Bottom of EU Femicide Table; Latvia Dominates, Africa Worst Worldwide
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Newly released Eurostat figures underline the stubborn resilience of gender-related killings across Europe, even as the continent continues to consider fresh legal remedies. In the European Union, women are killed nearly twice as often as men when the perpetrator is a partner or family member — 4.1 women per million people in the latest dataset, compared with 2.2 men.
Latvia continues to record the highest femicide rate in the bloc. The Baltic state reported roughly 17 women killed per million people in both 2022 and 2023. Neighbouring Lithuania followed with 10, while Austria registered nearly five per million in each of the past two years.
At the lower end of the EU range — Malta aside — Greece, Spain and the Netherlands reported between roughly two and just over two femicides per million people. Despite periodic fluctuations, the EU’s decade-long trend has been relatively stable, reaching a peak in 2022, when 4.4 women per million inhabitants were intentionally killed by partners or relatives.
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On a global scale, the picture is far grimmer. Africa records both the highest femicide rate and the greatest number of victims, according to United Nations estimates: 30 women per million people and about 22,600 victims in 2024. The Americas and Oceania also report elevated rates, at 15 and 14 per million, while Asia stands at seven and the wider European continent at five.
Growing public pressure and the perception that existing frameworks have proven insufficient have pushed several European governments to take a harder line. Italy last week approved a law imposing life imprisonment when femicide follows a refusal to enter or continue a relationship or accept restrictions on personal freedom. In France, where deadly attacks against women rose 11% between 2023 and 2024, lawmakers proposed a bill with more than 50 measures aimed at stemming domestic violence. Officials argue the package must also shield women from non-physical tactics, including financial control, GPS monitoring and online harassment.
Spain moved earlier in the year to draft legislation defining “indirect” gender-based violence — acts intended to intimidate or coerce the victim — with penalties reaching three years in prison. Croatia and Belgium have likewise amended their legal codes to formally acknowledge gender-motivated violence.
The UN, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, described femicide as a “global epidemic”. Its data indicate that in 2024, a woman was intentionally killed by a partner or family member every 10 minutes. Some 60% of perpetrators were intimate partners or relatives, including extended family. The sharp scale of the crisis has pushed policymakers and activists to distinguish these attacks from conventional homicide, defining femicide as intentional killing driven by gender-related dynamics — including unequal power relations, discriminatory norms and pervasive stereotypes that leave women more vulnerable to lethal violence.
