Of all intentional killings involving intimate partners almost 80 per cent of victims are women.

Ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women last month, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences (SRVAW) and the platform of key United Nations and regional expert mechanisms on Violence Against Women, including the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the United Nations Working Group on the Issue of Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice (WGDAW),the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Rapporteur on the Rights of Women of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI) and the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO), jointly called on all States and all relevant stakeholders worldwide to end the global epidemic of femicide or gender-related killings of women, and gender-based violence against women.