A woman is killed by a man every 2.7 days in the UK — the time to act is now

Around 800,000 women were sexually assaulted in England and Wales in 2022, according to the most recent data.

If that statistic shocks you then it’s time to take action and use your voice to help change it. Violence against women and girls isn’t something we can afford to shy away from. Sexist crimes are on the rise and perpetrators are getting younger. Over one million VAWG related crimes were recorded during 2022/23, accounting for 20% of all police recorded crime.

Clearly, this national threat isn’t something we can ignore. The time to act is now.

Gender-based violence isn’t just a ‘women’s issue’, it’s a society issue and as such, it requires a society-wide approach to “tackle the scourge of violence against women and girls”, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer put it. Which is why, this year, we’re joining UN Women UK’s call to get everyone involved in the fight for justice.

As Ben Hurst, an ally and advocate of “positive masculinity” says, “If women and girls could solve gender-based violence, it would have been solved a long time ago, right? If they could do it by themselves, it would have been fixed.” Hurst knows that the only way to tackle gender-based violence is to view it as what it is—a national emergency, not just a female problem that only affects women and girls. This is why UN Women UK has launched a national behavioural change campaign—StopReportSupport—to encourage bystander intervention.

And yet, in many ways, it feels like we’re becoming more divisive than ever, with our youngest generations growing apart at a rapid-fire rate. A large-scale survey by King’s College revealed stark differences in opinion between the youngest generations. Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London worries this could lead to a “fractious division” if left unchecked. We’ve already had a glimpse of what could become in the gleefully misogynistic responses to Trump’s election .

So, perhaps at a time of growing tension, fiery comment sections, and an ever-more siloed society, one way to begin to bridge the gaping gender divide is to take the heat out and simply present the facts. So here they are—25 horrifying and irrefutable statistics on the scale and severity of Violence Against Women and Girls. Protecting women and girls is everyone’s responsibility. Read more about how you can be an ally here (and share it to the men in your life, too).

25 statistics about Violence Against Women and Girls

1. Globally, every 10 minutes a woman is intentionally killed by a partner or family member (UN Women)

2. A woman is killed by a man every 2.7 days in the UK (Femicide Census)

3. 20% of children in the UK have lived with an adult perpetrating domestic abuse

4. The police record a domestic abuse offence every 40 seconds in the UK (Refuge)

6. 71% of trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls (Stop the Traffik)

7. Women and girls account for 99% of victims of modern slavery in the commercial sex industry (Unseen)

8. Of the 100 UK domestic homicide victims in the year ending March 2023, 70 were women (ONS)

10. 1 in 3 women worldwide will experience violence in their lifetime (UN Women)

11. Only 1% of that million have sought professional help (Unicef)

12. 96% of women in conflict zones reported experiencing some form of violence (From Asking to Action)

13. 89% of women in Great Britain who had experienced harassment said they felt “very or fairly unsafe” walking on their own in the dark in a park or other open space. (OPN)

14. By the time they are 19 years old, almost 1 in 4 adolescent girls (24%) who have been in a relationship have already been physically, sexually, or psychologically abused by a partner. (WHO)

16. 35% of women who have slept rough did it to escape violence (St Mungo’s)

17. In 91% of police reports of rape, a woman was the victim (ONS)

18. 3% of all women in England and Wales aged 16 and over were victims of sexual assault in the last year (ONS)

19. 9% of all women in England and Wales aged 16 and over were victims of domestic abuse in the last year (ONS)

20. 7% of households in England who were homeless or threatened with homelessness recorded domestic abuse as the main reason (House of Lords Library)

21. 9% of all women in England and Wales aged 16 and over were victims of stalking in the last year (ONS)

22. 8% of all women in England and Wales aged 18 to 74 experienced abuse before the age of 16 (ONS)

23. It is estimated that 80% of people displaced by climate change are women (UNHCR)

24. 9 million girls will be married in childhood in the year 2030 (Unicef)