Women account for a quarter of civilian deaths in conflicts
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Inter Press Service (IPS)
More than 37,000 civilians were killed in conflicts in 2025, including one woman or girl in every four deaths, a proportion twice that of 2021. About 750 million women and girls live near an armed conflict, according to the UN Secretary-General’s 2026 report, quoted by IPS.
More than 37,000 civilians were killed in conflicts in 2025, with women and girls accounting for one in four deaths, twice their share in 2021, according to the UN Secretary-General’s 2026 report on women, peace and security, published on 30 October. This amounts to at least 25 women and girls killed every day, according to UN Women.
About 750 million women and girls now live within 50 kilometres of an active conflict, 40 million more than in 2024 and the highest number since 1990. UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence nearly quadrupled between 2022 and 2025, while 170 million women and girls live both in conflict zones and in extreme poverty, on less than three dollars a day.
In countries affected by conflict, women and girls spend five times as many hours as men and boys on unpaid domestic and care work, twice the global average. UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous called for investment in women’s leadership, conflict prevention and peacebuilding as military spending rises and development aid falls.
