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Introduction

Violence against women in Africa includes intimate partner violence, rape, femicide, trafficking, child marriage, female genital mutilation, sexual exploitation in conflict, and emerging digital abuse. The World Health Organization 2025 prevalence report is based on survey data from 2000–2023 and treats violence against women as both a human-rights violation and a public-health problem.

Globally, nearly one in three women has experienced physical and or sexual violence by an intimate partner or non-partner sexual violence. In West and Central Africa, 10–30% of partnered women aged 15–49 report physical and or sexual partner violence in the previous year. In 2023, about 8.6 million people in West and Central Africa needed gender-based violence assistance in humanitarian settings. UNICEF estimates that over 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation, including over 144 million in Africa.

Legal framework

The main regional instrument is the Maputo Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which obliges states to prohibit violence against women, including violence in private life and harmful practices. The African Commission reported in March 2026 that 46 of 55 AU member states had ratified it.

A newer instrument is the African Union Convention on Ending Violence against Women and Girls, adopted in February 2025. It aims to create a comprehensive legally binding framework for prevention, response, institutional strengthening, and addressing root causes. The key challenge is not only adoption of laws but implementation: many countries have domestic-violence, sexual-offences, trafficking, Female Genital Mutilation or child marriage laws, but enforcement is weakened by underreporting, police inaction, cost of justice, evidentiary barriers, stigma, and customary dispute resolution that may pressure survivors into silence.

At national level, many African states have laws on domestic violence, sexual offences, trafficking, child marriage, FGM, and workplace harassment. The main weakness is often implementation, under reporting, weak policing, slow courts, informal settlements, low conviction rates, lack of shelters, and limited funding for survivor services.

Social framework: religion, culture and traditional norms

Violence against women in Africa is sustained by; unequal gender power relations, poverty, conflict, dependence on male partners, and social acceptance of male authority. UNFPA reports that in West and Central Africa, acceptance of wife beating ranges from about 30% to 80% across surveyed countries, with Mali at the high end. These norms are linked to patriarchal systems, dominant masculinities, and religious or cultural expectations that can normalize women’s obedience and men’s control.

Female Genital Mutilation remains a major example and UNICEF estimates that over 230 million girls and women globally have undergone FGM, with Africa accounting for over 144 million. In West and Central Africa alone, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports almost 50 million FGM affected women and girls, about 20% of the global burden. Child marriage is also widespread; UNFPA says that in West and Central Africa, two out of five girls are married before age 18.

Religion and tradition are not inherently violent, but they are used to justify harmful practices such as child marriage, FGM, marital rape, widowhood rites, bride-price related coercion, and family honour controls. UNICEF notes that poverty, family honour, social norms, and customary or religious laws that condone the practice drive child marriage. Religious and traditional leaders can also be powerful allies. Where they publicly reject violence, reinterpret harmful customs, support girls’ education, and cooperate with legal authorities, community norms can shift faster than through law alone.

Protection systems

Protection systems usually include police gender desks or specialized Gender Based Violence units, medical care, psychosocial support, shelters, hotlines, legal aid, protection orders, social welfare services, and referral pathways linking hospitals, police, courts, and NGOs. In practice, access is uneven, especially in rural areas, conflict zones, and refugee or internally displaced communities.

Femicide data show the severity of the protection gap. United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime and UN Women estimated that in 2024, about 50,000 women and girls worldwide, were murdered by intimate partners or their family members. This translates to about one woman is killed every 10 minutes. The UN Women also reports that this represented 60% of the almost 83,300 women and girls intentionally killed in 2024.

Empowerment and Change

Empowerment and change are central to reducing violence against women in Africa because violence is often rooted in inequality, economic dependence, discrimination, and social norms that limit women’s autonomy. Laws that criminalize abuse are necessary, but they are not sufficient unless women also have the power, resources, and opportunities to live independently and safely. Empowerment means ensuring women and girls have equal access to education, decent work, land ownership, inheritance rights, healthcare, technology, political representation, and financial services. When women are economically secure and socially supported, they are more likely to report abuse, leave violent relationships, and participate in decision making processes that shape their communities. UN Women emphasizes that gender equality and women’s leadership are essential foundations for ending violence against women.

Across Africa, many countries have introduced practical empowerment actions and reforms. Rwanda is widely recognized for having one of the highest rates of women’s parliamentary representation in the world, helping normalize women’s leadership in public life. South Africa has expanded shelters, survivor support centres, gender-based violence hotlines, and national strategic plans against femicide and domestic violence. Kenya has supported women’s entrepreneurship funds, anti FGM programmes, and mobile legal aid initiatives for rural women. Ethiopia and Zambia have promoted girls’ education campaigns aimed at reducing child marriage and early pregnancy. Ghana established domestic violence units and strengthened police responses through specialized gender desks. Nigeria has seen growing state level adoption of violence against persons legislation and increasing investment in women’s enterprise programmes.

Other important empowerment efforts across the continent include cash transfer programmes for vulnerable women, free secondary education for all girls, vocational training, microfinance access, digital skills training, quotas for women in politics, community dialogues with men and boys, and partnerships with traditional and religious leaders to challenge harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation. Women’s cooperatives, farmer associations, and small-business grants have also helped survivors rebuild their lives after abuse.

Conclusion

Africa has a strong and growing legal framework, especially through the Maputo Protocol and the new African Union Convention on Ending Violence against Women and Girls. The central challenge is not only the absence of law, but also the gap between law, enforcement, social norms, and survivor protection. Effective prevention requires combining criminal justice reform, survivor-centred services, economic empowerment, education, community norm change, and engagement with religious and traditional authorities. Long-term change depends on combining these empowerment strategies with effective policing, accessible justice systems, healthcare, shelters, and sustained public education. When African countries invest in women’s leadership, economic independence, and equal rights, they not only reduce violence but also strengthen families, communities, and national developmen

References

1. World Health Organization. (2025). Violence against women prevalence estimates, 2000–2023. Geneva: WHO. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240116962
2. World Health Organization. (2025). Violence against women Fact sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women
3. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA West and Central Africa Regional Office). (2024). Acceleration Paper: Zero GBV and Harmful Practices. https://wcaro.unfpa.org/
4. United Nations Children’s Fund. (2024). Over 230 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to female genital mutilation. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/over-230-million-girls-and-women-alive-today-have-been-subjected-female-genital
5. African Union. (2003). Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol).https://au.int/
6. African Union. (2025). African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls. https://au.int/
7. Amnesty International. (2025). CAR: Ratification of the Maputo Protocol strengthens women’s rights. https://www.amnesty.org/
8. United Nations Children’s Fund. (2025). Child marriage data and statistics. https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/
9. UN Women. (2024). Facts and figures: Ending violence against women. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures