Femicide Watch

The Women’s Aid Femicide Watch has recorded the violent deaths of women in the Republic of Ireland since 1996.  We do this to illustrate the danger posed to women and to better understand how to increase protection of women and children.

Our hope is to continue to try and break the pattern of male violence against women in the hope of preventing any further loss of life.

What is Femicide?

Each year we publish updated figures on the number of women killed by their partners or ex-partners since we began collecting data in 1996.

Femicide is broadly understood as the killing of women and girls by men. It differs from male homicide in specific ways as most cases of femicide are committed by partners or ex-partners. It is a term used to describe killings of women and girls precisely because they are women and girls.

Femicide is both a cause and a result of gender inequality and discrimination, both of which are root causes of all violence against women.

Femicide is often linked to ongoing emotional, physical, sexual and economic abuse including coercive control perpetrated by a partner or ex-partner against a woman. The understanding of femicide as the murder of a woman because of her gender is important.

We know that although men are much more likely to be victims of homicide in general at the hands of a wide range of perpetrators, women who are murdered are highly likely to have been murdered by an intimate partner, ex-intimate partner or family member.

Why do we Track Femicide Figures?

Domestic violence and abuse kills women. It kills children too. The types of abuse and behaviour that precedes intimate partner femicide mirrors what we hear from women each day on our 24hr National Freephone Helpline 1800 341 900 and at our regional support services.

We know just how dangerous domestic violence abuse can be and that unfortunately, the horrendous catalogue of incidents that women disclose to us every day are just the tip of the iceberg. More public awareness of the signs, signals and patterns that lead to femicide is needed.

Femicide in Ireland

  • 275 women have died violently between 1996-present*
  • 20 children have died in incidents where women have died violently
  • 180 women have been killed in their own homes (63%)
  • 223 cases have been resolved (80%)
  • 87% of women (where the case has been resolved) were killed by a man known to them. 13% of women were killed by a stranger
  • 1 in every 2 femicide victims is killed by a current or former male intimate partner (55% of resolved cases)
  • Women of any age can be victims of femicide. However, women under the age of 35 make up 50% of cases in Ireland
  • In almost all murder-suicide cases (23 out of 24) the killer was the woman’s current or former male intimate partner.

(*) 8th June 2025

Dedication

Each woman killed violently is an outrage.  An absolute tragic loss of life resulting in utter heartache and trauma for those left behind.

The Women’s Aid Femicide Watch is dedicated to all women whose voices have been silenced through violence, and whose boundless potential was robbed of them and their loved ones.  We also dedicate this work to the bereaved families, friends and communities of women murdered enduring unimaginable pain of loss and absence while left to pick up the pieces.