While the adoption of the strategy to prevent and combat gender-based violence and domestic violence is still pending, North Macedonia is facing alarming figures regarding victims of gender-based violence. The latest report by Eurostat (the Directorate-General of the European Commission responsible for providing statistical data at the European level) shows that North Macedonia ranks third in Europe in terms of the number of femicides, namely the killing of women by their intimate partners.
Eurostat data for 2023 indicate that during this period, six femicides per one million inhabitants were recorded in North Macedonia. It is followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina with five femicides, and then Austria, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine with four killings per one million inhabitants.
According to Eurostat data, within the European Union the rate of women killed by their intimate partners is four women per one million inhabitants, while the rate for men is twice as low, at 2.2 men per one million inhabitants.
Meanwhile, according to data from the Ministry of Interior, a total of 6,242 criminal offences related to domestic violence were recorded in the period from 2018 to 2023. These include: murder (33 cases), attempted murder (14 cases), bodily injury (3,792 cases), grievous bodily harm (155 cases), coercion (38 cases), endangering personal safety (2,179 cases), unlawful deprivation of liberty (29 cases), and mediation in the commission of prostitution (2 cases).
Despite these figures, the country has still not adopted a strategy to prevent and combat gender-based violence and domestic violence. The Ministry of Social Policy, Demography and Youth told Mollëkuqja that in December 2025 the draft text was submitted to the members of the National Coordinating Body, which under the law is responsible for preparing the Strategy.
“Once the National Coordinating Body finalizes the Draft Strategy, public debates will be held, after which the document will be submitted to the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, while its adoption will be carried out by the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia. The National Strategy itself and the Action Plan include a budget for the implementation of each planned activity. For the successful implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, the Action Plan for the implementation of the Convention for the period 2018–2023 was adopted, and an evaluation of the Action Plan for the same period was prepared,” the Ministry stated.
They added that in the previous period, activities foreseen in the Action Plan continued to be implemented but were not completed within the set timeframe, with the aim of improving the system for the prevention of and protection against violence against women and strengthening prevention and protection mechanisms, with the support of international donors.
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is the most advanced international treaty addressing such serious violations of human rights.
The Convention recognizes violence against women as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination, meaning that states bear responsibility if they fail to respond adequately to such violence.
The Convention criminalizes acts such as female genital mutilation, forced marriage, stalking, forced abortion, and forced sterilization. This means that, for the first time, states are obliged to include these criminal offences in their national legal systems.
