Mozambican Association denounces murder of 55 women since January

“ ANDwe are concerned about the murder of women, of girls for the simple fact that they are women. Only this year, from January to September, we have 55 cases of femicide, but we believe we have much more,” said the director of the association ASCHA, Delilah Macuacua, quoted today by the media.

The survey of this association was carried out in partnership with the UN Women in Mozambique, with the organization asking for the participation of more men in actions aimed at protecting women to end these cases, besides the creation of a specific law that combats femicide.

“ We want a specific law that first prevents violence against women, according to the response to this violence and there are legal mechanisms to punish these cases”, said Delilah Macuacua.

Ascha mainly brings together young women and girls who work for the promotion and protection of human rights, empowerment, gender equality in particular of children, adolescents and young orphans and vulnerable and defends a feminist identity of equality where girls and boys have the same opportunities to access affective, material and financial resources that guarantee their autonomy and improve conditions in communities.

Mozambique recorded 40 deaths of women in 18,365 reported cases of Gender-Based Violence (VBG) in 2025, according to data released in April by the government, which considers reviewing the Penal Code to have a specific law against femicide.

“ These numbers are not just statistics as we referred to earlier, they represent lives representing committed stories and futures, they are an urgent appeal to action,” said the Secretary of State for Gender and Social Action, Abdul Esmail.

According to the governor, in a total of 18,365 reported cases, approximately 79% had women and girls as victims, with the data also indicating 40 deaths due to the murder of women, evidencing the “persistence of the most extreme forms of this violence”.

“ Let us proceed with the revision of law 29/2009 to the extreme of coming to the conclusion that it is not possible to proceed with this approval without reviewing the penal code so this movement has to allow, in fact, to revise the penal code and have a specific law that responds to the current challenges. In fact, murder is a scourge,” Abdul Esmail said.

The Secretary of State also called for the participation of the whole society in the search for mechanisms to combat femicide, asking everyone “to break the cause” and not to back down “as long as this law is not passed”.

On March 8, Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo considered the increase in cases of gender-based violence a worrying obstacle to the country’s development efforts.

On March 5, a group of 1,000 Mozambican women called for the typification of femicide crime, the criminalization of obstetric and digital violence, the creation of legal sections specializing in domestic violence, rape and harassment, and the economic independence of the courts.