On December 16, 2024, in North Carolina, a routine outing devolved into 21-year-old Ashanti Downey fighting for her life after suffering from third-degree burns. She was approached from behind, doused with a flammable liquid, and set on fire by a man she was living with. This type of violence directed at women and girls, simply for being women and girls, is too common. Unfortunately, as highlighted by a recently released report from the United Nations (U.N.), 85,000 women across the globe were killed by men in 2023 alone, demonstrating the prevalence of femicide globally.

According to the U.N., femicide is defined as an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation. While femicide can occur in very public places such as a New York City subway, or, as in Ashanti Downey’s case, in front of a Dollar Store, home is the most dangerous place for women. The U.N. report found that male intimate partners perpetrated 60% of all femicides in 2023, and this was a higher percentage than in prior years.

Unlike homicide, femicide is fueled by structural inequality in society that disfavors women and girls. This includes discrimination, inequitable power dynamics that privilege men and boys, and harmful gender norms — factors that contribute to widespread acts of violence against women and girls. In that sense, femicide represents the most extreme manifestation of gender-based violence (GBV) against women and girls. In essence, femicide is the ultimate silencing of women and girls.

The U.N. report findings also underscore regional differences in femicide. For instance, the African region had the highest rate of intimate partner/family member femicide in 2023, followed by the Americas and Oceania. These regional differences signal an urgent need for more resources to scientifically examine and address the interplay of the historical trauma of colonialism, current systems of gender inequities, the persistence of patriarchy, and the subordination of women and girls at local, national, and regional levels.

Read the full article about femicide and gender-based violence by Rochelle Davidson Mhonde and Jhumka Gupta at Women's Media Center.