Many European countries are cracking down on direct and indirect violence against women. Where are they more likely to fall victim to a close acquaintance?
In the EU, women are killed nearly 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 killed per million people, compared with 2.2 men.
Latvia consistently reported the highest femicide rate across the bloc in both 2022 and 2023 — around 17 women every one million people — a further analysis by Europe in Motion found.
Neighbouring Lithuania had the second-highest rate in both years, with 10 women every one million people, followed by Austria with nearly five in both 2022 and 2023.
Which continent reports the highest femicide rate?
Malta aside, 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 past decade, the number of such killings has remained relatively stable in the EU, with a peak in 2022, when 4.4 women per one million people were murdered.
Globally, Africa stands out as the continent with both the highest femicide rate — 30 per million people — and the largest absolute number of victims: an estimated 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 lower in Asia (7) and in the broader European continent (5).
Indirect violence: What is it and which countries are trying to tackle it?
In response to public pressure and rising awareness, several European countries have recently been proposing or introducing tougher laws to combat violence against women — including France, Spain and Italy.
Last week, Rome approved a law introducing life imprisonmentwhen femicide follows, for example, a woman's refusal to engage in a relationship or to accept restrictions on her personal freedom.
A day earlier, following a week marked by four femicides, French MPs proposed a bill with over 50 new measures to tackle domestic violence. France reported an11% increase in deadly attacks against women between 2023 and 2024.
The country's Gender Equality Minister Aurore Bergé said the new legislation, on top of protecting women against physical violence, should also safeguard them from other types of control, like bank account closures, GPS tracking and online stalking.
Spain's government made a similar move in September with a draft bill aimed at codifying so-called indirect gender-based violence; in other words, malicious acts perpetrated to control or intimidate the victim.
The proposed changes would carry prison sentences of up to three years.
Earlier, in 2023, Croatia and Belgium also amended their legislation to formally recognise gender-based violence.
How does 'femicide' differ from conventional murder?
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, the UN called such attacks on women a "global epidemic".
The organisation said that last year, "every 10 minutes, partners and family members killed a woman intentionally".
According to the UN, women and girls are most likely to be killed by someone they know: 60% of femicide perpetrators in 2024 were intimate partners or family members, including extended family such as uncles.
The scale of the crisis in recent years prompted the creation of a separate category for such murders: "femicide", which is defined by the UN as an intentional murder driven by gender-related factors: for example, "unequal power relations, gender stereotypes or harmful social norms" which may put women in a more vulnerable position.