France’s silent war: 55 women killed in 2025 amid rising violence

France is once again spending the summer of 2025—just like previous years—grappling with increasing violence against women and girls. From July 1 to August 14, eleven women were killed in cases of femicide.

According to Le Monde, since the beginning of this year alone, 55 women have lost their lives to femicide in France.

The latest victim, Tatiana Moll, was murdered on August 8. As with many similar cases, her life could likely have been saved had the police taken warning signs seriously. In the weeks leading up to her death, she had filed two complaints against her partner for harassment, threatening messages, and damage to her home and car. Police classified these as minor offenses and provided no protective measures.

Statistics on rape, assault, and harassment reveal the vast scale of the crisis. Yet, these numbers only partially reflect reality, as the true scope of violence remains difficult to measure—largely because many victims delay reporting or never report at all.

A nationwide study shows that sexual violence in France is on the rise. By the end of 2023, around 270,000 women were victims of physical sexual violence—including rape and attempted rape—while 1.14 million women in 2022 suffered non-physical sexual harassment.

Shockingly, only 6% of victims of physical sexual violence and 2% of those suffering non-physical harassment filed police reports, citing widespread belief that the police fail to take such cases seriously.

Even more concerning, underage girls are identified as the main victims of sexual violence.

The report highlights femicide as the core of the crisis, noting that, on average, one woman is killed every three days by a partner or ex-partner.

In 2023, about 93 cases of femicide and 319 attempted femicides were officially recorded, though advocacy groups argue the real figure was at least 135 femicides.

Another tragic consequence of violence is suicide: according to a 2023 MIPROF report, 773 women abused by a current or former partner attempted suicide, with some cases resulting in death.