Skopje hosts regional conference on femicide prevention

A regional conference on femicide is being held in Skopje, organized by the OSCE Mission to Skopje, to address the extreme form of gender-based violence in Southeast Europe. Experts and officials emphasized that femicide is not an isolated incident or a private family tragedy, but the culmination of a continuous cycle of control, threats, and abuse.

Global statistics from UN Women and the UNODC indicate that approximately 50,000 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or family members in 2024, averaging one victim every ten minutes. While total intentional killings of women reached about 83,000, nearly 60 percent were committed by those within the domestic sphere.

The conference focused on establishing operational standards for identifying and investigating gender-related killings, as well as improving data collection. Participants discussed the need for multi-sectoral cooperation between police, prosecutors, and courts to ensure timely intervention through early warning systems. Speakers noted that while North Macedonia has implemented legal changes for prevention, political will and increased resources for protection services remain critical to saving lives.