More than half of female murder victims last year globally, were killed by their partners or family members a new United Nations study has reported.

Released to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the study analysed gender-related, homicide data around the world; revealing that women comprise 82 percent of intimate partner murders and that most of these are tied to previous instances of domestic violence.

Last year alone, 87,000 women were murdered across the world with a staggering 50,000 of these cases being a direct result of domestic and family violence.

Six women killed every hour of every day.

The most dangerous place for women is the home. In 2017, more than half of female homicide victims worldwide died at the hands of intimate partners or family members: https://t.co/6rtDl0XN3h via @unodc #16Days pic.twitter.com/2IgHNWegMN — United Nations (@UN) November 26, 2018

“The fact that women continue to be affected by this type of violence to a greater degree than men is indicative of an imbalance in power relations between women and men inside the domestic sphere,” said UNODC executive director Yury Fedotov.

“Women continue to pay the highest price as a result of gender inequality, discrimination and negative stereotypes,” he further added.

Women are most at risk in Africa, which recorded the highest incidence of domestic violence murders– a rate of around 3.1 victims per 100,000 annually. In the Americas the rate is still unbearably high with 1.6 victims, while Australia (Oceania) sat at 1.3.

Asia recorded the highest number of female homicides overall, but a relatively low domestic violence-related rate of 0.9. The lowest rate was found in Europe, with 0.7 victims per 100,000 female populace.

The report determined that tangible progress on this crisis has been negligible in recent years despite legislation and programmes developed to eradicate violence against women.

The UNODC concluded that the report underlined the need for more effective crime prevention and criminal justice responses to promote victim safety and empowerment, as well as offender accountability.

It also called for greater coordination between police and the justice systems as well as health and social services; emphasising the criticality of involving men in the solution.