One Every Ten Minutes — Violence Against Women

Every day, 137 women and girls are killed by someone in their own family. The Bible describes a world where no one will make them afraid.

Women living in fear contrasted with women living in safety and peace

Home is supposed to be the safest place on earth. For tens of thousands of women and girls, it is the most dangerous. In November 2025, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women reported that 83,000 women and girls were intentionally killed in 2024 — and 60 percent of them, some 50,000, died at the hands of an intimate partner or a family member.

That is an average of 137 women and girls every day, or one almost every ten minutes. By contrast, only 11 percent of male homicide victims are killed by partners or relatives. The UN agencies concluded that femicide continues "with no sign of real progress," and that many of these killings are the final act in a long pattern of abuse that institutions failed to stop.

Femicide Worldwide (UNODC & UN Women, 2025):

  • Killed in 2024: 83,000 women and girls were intentionally killed.
  • By loved ones: 60% — about 50,000 — were killed by an intimate partner or family member.
  • Every day: 137 women and girls, or one roughly every 10 minutes.
  • Highest rate: Africa, at about 3 per 100,000 women and girls, followed by the Americas and Oceania.
  • Progress: The UN reports no meaningful decline in femicide in recent years.

Laws Cannot Change a Heart

Many nations have passed stronger laws, opened shelters, and trained police to respond to domestic violence. These efforts save lives, and they deserve support. Yet the numbers barely move. Abuse is often hidden, protective orders are ignored, and many victims never report what is happening to them. The deeper problem is not a shortage of legislation but a shortage of love, self-control, and respect — qualities no parliament can enforce.

"In the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, having no natural affection."
— 2 Timothy 3:1-3

The Bible foretold an era marked by people "having no natural affection" — a description that fits a world in which tens of thousands are killed each year by those who should have protected them. It explains why the problem persists despite sincere human effort.

A God Who Values Every Life

The Bible presents God as One who sees every act of violence, including what happens behind closed doors, and who promises to act through his appointed King.

"He will rescue the poor who cry for help, also the lowly one and whoever has no helper... From oppression and from violence he will rescue them, and their blood will be precious in his eyes."
— Psalm 72:12, 14

To the Ruler of God's Kingdom, the life of each woman and girl is "precious." Unlike human authorities, he will not miss a warning sign or arrive too late. And under his rule, people will be taught a completely different way of treating one another.

Homes Without Fear

The Bible's picture of the future is of families living in peace and in safety, not behind locked doors but in a world where violence has been unlearned.

"They will sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one will make them afraid."
— Micah 4:4

Advocates around the world are working courageously to protect women and girls, and their efforts matter. But even the UN admits that progress has stalled. The Bible points to a government that will reach the root of the problem — the human heart — and bring about a world in which no woman or girl will ever again be afraid in her own home.

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