WOMEN

Guardian - Every third woman across the EU has experienced physical violence, including threats, or sexual violence, a survey has revealed, in what one official described as an “invisible epidemic”.The findings released on Monday are based on responses from women aged 18 to 74 from across the EU’s 27 member states.

The survey offered a glimpse of the wide-reaching impact that violence has had on the 229 million women who live across the bloc, said Sirpa Rautio, the director of the EU’s Agency for Fundamental Rights. “One-third of them have been slapped, hit, kicked, raped or threatened with such violence,” she said. “In the EU, in 2024, women’s safety still cannot be guaranteed.”

In what she described as a “sad reality”, the figures remained virtually unchanged from those published in a 2014 EU-wide survey on violence against women. “A decade later, we continue to witness the same shocking levels of violence that affect one in three women.”

 

Data: Center for American Women and Politics. Cartogram: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

NPR _ A woman or girl was killed every 10 minutes in 2023, according to a report on femicide released by the United Nations today. The report found the vast majority of killings were perpetrated by a partner or close relative.  One of the report's key takeaways is that femicide is happening at a high rate, with the highest numbers coming from Africa and Asia, NPR’s Fatma Tanis says. 

Kalliopi Mingeirou, the chief of the Ending Violence Against Women Section at UN Women, says that for many women and girls, their homes are not a safe place. Even though there are laws in place to prevent femicide, researchers have noted a lack of enforcement. Though women in many countries might report violence from their partners, they are often dismissed by police or referred to social services. Many don’t report incidents to police anymore because they don't trust the system.