By Kevin Okunzuwa/NAN
An alarming report recently released by the UN Women and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reveals that in 2023, 140 women died daily in alleged femicide.
According to the report, no fewer than 140 women and girls die every day allegedly at the hands of either their partners or close relatives.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Femicide, or the killing of women and girls, is a pressing social and health issue globally. It is one of the violence against women and girls under-reported.
This means that one woman is killed every 10 minutes.
That is why the UN report, released on the 25th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, sheds light on the global crisis of femicide and calls for urgent action.
UN Secretary-General, António Guterres in his message for the Day, said “The epidemic of violence against women and girls shames humanity.”
“The world must heed this call. We need urgent action for justice and accountability and support for advocacy,” said the UN report.
NAN adds that the report also coincides with the start of the annual 16 Days of Activism campaign, which runs from Nov. 25 to Dec. 10.
This year, the UNITE campaign is drawing attention to the alarming escalation of violence against women under the theme: “Every 10 minutes, a woman is killed. #NoExcuse. UNITE to End Violence against Women”.
The report said that femicide transcended borders, socioeconomic statuses, and cultures, but its severity varied regionally.
It said that Africa recorded the highest rates of intimate partner and family-related femicides, with 21,700 women killed in 2023, followed by the Americas and Oceania.
In Europe and the Americas, most victims were killed by their intimate partners, comprising 64 per cent and 58 per cent of cases, respectively.
In contrast, women in Africa and Asia were more likely to be killed by family members than by partners, reflecting varied cultural and social dynamics responsible for this discrimination.
Reports sighted by NAN described femicide, or the killing of women, in Nigeria, as a pervasive issue often perpetuated by patriarchal norms and societal expectations.
The UN report’s findings also underscored the need for urgent action to address this issue.
In Nigeria, domestic violence is a significant contributor to femicide.
A study found that 31 per cent of women were reported to be experiencing physical, emotional, or sexual violence in their marriages.
Furthermore, the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey revealed that over 30.5 per cent of married women experienced domestic violence.
Despite the alarming numbers, a lack of consistent and comprehensive data remains a significant challenge to addressing the menace.
The survey indicated a sharp rise in femicide cases in Nigeria, with 52 reported cases between July 2023 and June 2024.
Unfortunately, no official data is available to aid proper and effective prosecution of culprits.
It is this lacuna of the dearth of data juxtaposed with the increased rate of femicide cases that made experts describe the menace as a pandemic, requiring urgent action to halt the worrisome societal malaise.
These experts identified that such factors including challenges of underreporting by victims and their families, fear of stigma or retaliation, the lack of dedicated resources for tracking and investigating these cases as well as lack of legal instruments, further complicate the issue of femicide.
Corroborating this, Samuel Keshinro, a Pathologist with the Nigeria Police, who confirmed increased cases of femicide across Nigeria, however, noted that “Unfortunately, police have no accurate data to address femicide cases nationwide currently.”
Keshinro, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, and the only Force Pathologist in the country, made the stark revelation in an interview with NAN in Lagos.
Yet, Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director, said “Violence against women and girls is not inevitable—it is preventable”.
Aderonke Atoyebi, the Executive Director of Fame Foundation, a gender-bias Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), lamented that the girl child, young women and young female adults had become endangered species in Nigeria.
Atoyebi told NAN that “the situation of femicide is now critical, as the Federal Government has recorded 27,698 SGBV cases in the last three years in Nigeria.
“At least five female murder cases recorded from different states this year were highlighted, some of the cases got justice while some didn’t get till date.
“Femicide has become a pandemic and a state of emergency needs to be declared on this often-overlooked issue. Victim blaming must end.
“Femicide, or the killing of women and girls, is a pressing social and health issue in Nigeria that deserves attention and discussion.
“The victims ranged in age from four to 60 years old, and the perpetrators are often intimate partners, family members, or strangers,” she said.
