Femicides in Chile 2015-2024

From January to May 2024, the number of femicides reported in Chile was already 23, more than a femicide a week. During the last decade, the highest number of femicides were recorded in 2017 with 69 cases.  

Danger comes from the inside

It may sound counterintuitive to say that the most dangerous place for women is inside their own home with family members or partners. Nonetheless, for victims of femicide that is the case. During 2022, almost 75 percent of all the femicides recorded in Chile, the perpetrator was either the current or ex partner of the victim. Figure that grows considering that in only 5.6 percent of the cases the victim had no reported relationship with their perpetrators. Moreover, the number of cases by place of occurrence shows a similar story, the most common place is the victim's own place of residence. 

Homicides in Chile 

During 2023, almost two people in Chile every day were victims of homicide. The situation does not present a positive outlook for the decline in the number of cases. For the last couple of years, the homicide rate in the South American country has started to increase, going from 2.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 2019 to 4.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023. After the wave of violence, the Chilean government started a program called "Streets with no violence" to try to stop the spread of criminal organizations and overall violent crime.