An international coalition is urging the World Health Organization to address firearms more directly in efforts to prevent femicide and violence against women. (Foto: Instagram)
An international coalition is calling on the World Health Organization (WHO) to take stronger action to prevent firearm-related femicides, saying guns remain overlooked in global policies and guidance on violence against women. The appeal is outlined in a report released Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, based on information gathered in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Balkan countries.
The report, “Firearms: A Critical Gap in Global Efforts to Address Violence Against Women and Femicide,” was coordinated by the Global Coalition for WHO Action on Armed Violence. The group includes international organizations, among them Brazil’s Instituto Sou da Paz. It says firearms can make gender-based violence more likely to be fatal, heighten threats and make it harder for victims to leave abusive relationships.
In Brazil, 1,571 femicides were recorded in the most recent year, according to the 20th Brazilian Public Security Yearbook, published by the Brazilian Forum on Public Security. That figure was 4% higher than the number of deaths identified in 2024. Of the victims, 62.6% were Black women, and 66.3% of the crimes took place in the victim’s home. Current or former partners were identified as the perpetrators in 59.4% and 21.3% of cases, respectively.
The report cites estimates that firearms increase the likelihood of domestic violence becoming fatal by more than five times. It also says one in eight convicted men had reported using a gun to threaten a partner. A study by Instituto Sou da Paz found that firearms were used in 47% of the killings of women in Brazil in 2024. From 2020 through 2024, an average of 1,877 women a year were killed by gunfire—about five each day, according to the report.
The report says gun-related violence against women is not limited to killings. In Brazil, 4,400 reports of firearm violence against women were recorded in 2024, involving threats, intimidation and efforts to control victims’ lives. The coalition argues that authorities worldwide fail to adequately account for firearms in their gender-based violence prevention guidance. For example, case-monitoring recommendations may track victims’ and perpetrators’ ages and sexes, as well as their relationship, without recording the type of weapon involved.
The coalition is urging the WHO to develop new standards and guidance that address firearms in prevention efforts. Carolina Ricardo, executive director of Instituto Sou da Paz, said global recognition of violence against women as a public health problem has advanced, but the role of firearms still receives too little attention. When firearm risks are absent from care protocols, information systems and prevention strategies, she said, opportunities to prevent deaths are lost. Ricardo added that the WHO can help countries incorporate those risks into policies to protect women.
