Beyond the count: the killing of Indigenous women as a security crisis
Indigenous women face a disproportionate femicide burden that global data systems too often fail to register.
Kyllie Cripps & Sara E. Davies
2 September 2026
This article was first published by the Lowy Institute Interpreter.
Indigenous women and girls around the world are at heightened risk of murder because of their gender. Femicide is often at the hands of intimate partners or family members, but can also be committed by state agents, non-Indigenous individuals, or result from broader contexts of conflict, forced displacement and resource extraction.
This makes Indigenous femicide a matter of international peace and security, and it should be a priority for the Women Peace and Security Agenda. The first UN Security Council Resolution on WPS, 1325 in 2000, “called for measures that support local women’s peace initiatives and Indigenous processes for conflict resolution”. Since 2000, there has not been enough progress and recognition in the WPS Agenda of Indigenous women’s peace and security, and their right to participation, protection, relief and recovery.
Indigenous women face a heightened collective risk. Indigenous Peoples make up less than 6% of the global population, but they represent at least 15% of the extremely poor. Violence against Indigenous women and girls often occurs in contexts of extreme vulnerability and poverty rooted in racism and structural discrimination, including those shaped by armed conflict, the militarisation of Indigenous territories, forced displacement and migration, the suppression of cultural practices, and the criminalisation of Indigenous women defenders of land and the environment.
Data availability is limited. The UN Women-UNODC annual report on femicide estimates that 83,000 women and girls were intentionally killed in 2024. But the report makes no mention of Indigenous women and girls’ disproportionate experience of femicide. We know, however, that Indigenous women and girls face a disproportionate and racialised burden. A recent series of online roundtables held by the Australian Research Council Centre for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW) and its partner, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), heard a call to recognise the daily insecurity of Indigenous women from the Americas, Africa and Arab states, Asia and the Pacific.
Without greater action, Indigenous women and girls will continue to bear a disproportionate burden of violence.
One positive development is the recently published mid-term review on Australia’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2022–32), which includes a focus on meaningful First Nations engagement with WPS recommendations. This recognition is a necessary step towards ensuring that Indigenous women’s experiences of insecurity and violence are no longer treated as peripheral to peace and security discussions. However, much more needs to be done in Australia and internationally for greater collaboration, investment, and Indigenous-led action to prevent Indigenous femicide across Asia and the Pacific region and beyond.
Indigenous femicide is too often rendered invisible through misclassification, erasure in biased or incomplete data systems, or neglect by authorities – or made hyper-visible in ways that stigmatise Indigenous communities. The lack of disaggregated data, combined with limited recognition of the roles of racism, colonialism and gender inequality, continues to hinder effective prevention and response efforts.
Addressing these gaps requires stronger evidence, but evidence must be understood broadly. Statistics can help governments, policymakers and communities identify patterns and trends in violence. Yet numbers must be accompanied by legitimate forms of evidence in stories, oral histories, testimonies and community narratives, offering critical insights into the causes and consequences of violence and the pathways towards healing and prevention.
Existing data systems continue to reflect colonial structures that determine what is counted, whose experiences are prioritised, and how violence is interpreted. Strengthening evidence on Indigenous femicide must therefore be accompanied by respect for and meaningful partnership with Indigenous peoples.
This requires ongoing collaboration and collective thinking, not only about improving data, but also who owns it, who interprets it, and who benefits from it – particularly as digital technologies and artificial intelligence expand rapidly.
Whether working with numbers or narratives, policy or protocols, the goal must be to support Indigenous communities and advance the solutions that Indigenous women themselves identify as necessary for their safety, security and wellbeing.
The Women, Peace and Security Agenda provides a framework for advancing this work. Without greater action, Indigenous women and girls will continue to bear a disproportionate burden of violence. Addressing Indigenous femicide is not only a matter of justice and equality, but a necessary step towards achieving peace, security and self-determination for Indigenous peoples worldwide.
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