Women and girls accounted for a quarter of the more than 37,000 civilians killed in armed conflict in 2025—double their share in 2021. According to the UN Secretary-General’s annual Women, Peace and Security report, at least 25 women and girls are killed daily in conflict settings.
Approximately 750 million women and girls live within 50 kilometers of active conflict, an increase of 40 million from 2024 and the highest figure since 1990. The UN verified 9,788 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2025, more than twice the previous year’s total and almost four times the number in 2022.
The consequences extend to economic hardship. Around 170 million women and girls experience both conflict and extreme poverty, living on less than $3 a day. In conflict-affected countries, women and girls also spend five times as many hours on unpaid care work as men and boys.
Despite these burdens, women represented just five percent of negotiators across 57 peace processes in 2025. None of the 13 ceasefire agreements explicitly prohibited conflict-related sexual violence. Meanwhile, global military expenditure reached a record $2.9 trillion, while 40 percent of women’s organizations in crisis-affected settings expect temporary or permanent closure within a year because of severe funding shortages.
UN Women is calling for protection, meaningful participation in peace and security efforts, and sustained investment in women-led peacebuilding. It also demands accountability for perpetrators, rather than allowing crimes to go unpunished.
