Femicide (or feminicide, as it is referred to in some contexts) is defined as an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation. It is different from homicide, where the motivation may not be gender-related. 

Femicide represents the most extreme manifestation of gender-based violence and requires dedicated legal, institutional, data, and prevention responses. Spotlight Initiative addresses femicide through integrated approaches spanning legal reform, data generation, survivor services, and social norm change, with particular depth in Latin America where prevalence and institutional attention to the issue are both high.

In 2025, in Ecuador, 41 justice sector officials were trained under the National Protocol for the Investigation of Femicides and 15 agents were trained as institutional trainers to cascade these competencies across the justice sector. The femicide alert system was expanded to two additional provinces, increasing geographic coverage of early warning mechanisms. Pioneering tools for gender-sensitive disciplinary investigations within the police helped improve how violence against female police officers was handled, with a draft Ministerial Agreement prepared to support mandatory institutionalization of these standards.

Spotlight Initiative's comprehensive model ensures that efforts to eliminate femicide are reinforced across legal, institutional, and preventive dimensions, driving sustained progress toward accountability and justice for survivors and their families.

In 2025, UN Women advanced efforts to prevent and respond to femicide and other gender-related killings through strengthened legal, policy and—especially—data frameworks. Building on the UN Statistical Framework for Measuring Gender-related Killings of Women and Girls, implementation continued across 11 pilot countries in all world regions (Albania, Chile, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Kenya, Mongolia, Senegal and Uruguay) improving the availability and comparability of national data.

Key 2025 activities include the first global meeting on femicide, jointly organized with UNODC, with 25 countries represented (through NSOs and/or law enforcement agencies) and eight regional and international organizations. The meeting informed the development of implementation guidance to be released in early 2026, including work toward a supplement addressing technology-facilitated violence and femicide. 

At global level, UN Women and UNODC continued the annual publication of global femicide estimates, and 2025 estimates were widely disseminated during the 16 Days of Activism, reinforcing evidence-based advocacy and policy action to address gender-related killings. 

UNFPA is supporting the rollout of the UN statistical framework on femicide, with pilot initiatives in countries such as Pakistan and the Dominican Republic. This work places particular emphasis on strengthening Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) and medico-legal death investigation systems, recognizing their critical role in improving the accuracy, completeness, and use of data on femicide. By integrating administrative data systems and fostering cross-country learning, UNFPA aims to enhance measurement, inform policy, and ultimately contribute to the prevention of femicide.

In March 2025, UNODC convened a workshop in Ecuador to support a pilot of the multi-stakeholder in-depth femicide review methodology with counterparts from the Ministry of Women and Human Rights, the prosecution service, the judiciary, the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police.  In South Africa, UNODC continued to support the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation within the Presidency in advancing the policy framework for institutionalizing femicide reviews, including through consultations with government and civil society stakeholders in February and May 2025.