Femicide: 6 Reasons why you Should be Alarmed

by: Yzelle Rose Pada

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The World Health Organization (WHO) views Violence Against Women (VAW) that is comprised of a wide range of acts – from verbal harassment and other forms of emotional abuse, to daily physical or sexual abuse. At the far end of the spectrum is femicide: the murder of a woman – which has become a global crisis that receives little attention in the global media despite its urgency and ubiquity. Victims suffer from both society’s ignorance and the murderer’s hands. However, you can start opening your eyes and do your part, how?

Here are the 6 reasons why you should be alarmed about femicide.

1. “The vast majority of all murders of women are femicides.” (Dr. Diana Russell, 2013)

Femicide, also known as feminicide, is the most extreme gender-based violence (GBV) and is defined as the intentional killing of a woman or girl entirely because of her gender – often, the murderer is a man. In 1976, Dr. Diana Russell, the late South African activist and scholar, first popularized the term “femicide” to describe the disturbing murder of women. It was also acknowledged that Russell coined the term to call forth a rally against femicide and to protect women and girls around the world – especially in Latin America, which is considered as the deadliest place for women due to its increasingly high rate of femicide, that predominantly use the word’s Spanish translation, “feminicidio.”

2. “137 women killed every day; 6 women killed every hour”

Procured data reveals that 66,000 women are killed violently every year and account for 17% of homicides.

In 2012, the estimated number of intentional killings of women is at 48,000, but in 2017, it nearly doubled. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) report shows that 87,000 women globally were victims of femicide – and more than half of them (50,000) were killed by intimate partners or family members.

Eighty percent of murders were committed by men in 2017.

In 2018, an estimated one in seven women had experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner or husband in the past 12 months. The latest United Nations figures show that 137 women across the world are killed every day. More perturbingly, men kill 6 women every hour around the world. These men are either from the victims’ own family or their partners.

3. “Killing a woman in the name of honor”

Cases of femicide fall under various forms. One of these is the “Honor killings” – the murder of a woman or girl by a male relative or other family members over sexual or adulterous behavior to maintain the family’s honor.

“There are an estimated 5000 murders in the name of ‘honor’ each year worldwide, although this is believed to be an underestimate”

as stated in UN’s Impunity for domestic violence, ‘honor killings’ cannot continue. This type is primarily observed in select parts of the Middle East and South Asia. For instance, women in India often die at the hands of their in-laws for providing insufficient dowry – the money, goods, or estate that a woman pays to her husband’s family in marriage.

In 2017, more than a third of femicide victims were killed by someone in their current or former intimate partner.

Included in these forms are the intimate and non-intimate femicide. Intimate Femicide is the murder of a woman by her former or present partner.

Non-intimate femicide refers to the killing of a woman or girl by someone who does not have a relationship with the victim. Studies show that this seldom occurs, but this form of femicide is on the alarming rise in Latin America.

Other forms of femicide also include sorcery – or witchcraft-related killings, armed conflict-related killings, gender identity, and sexual orientation-related killings, and ethnic and Indigenous identity-related killings, according to the United Nations.

4. “Femicide remains invisible”

Despite the availability of data on violence against women and girls that has improved considerably in recent years, data regarding femicide remains limited. According to Leah Rodriguez, author of the article Femicide: Everything You Need to Know, it is because “most countries do not receive the necessary information to record the motivations for homicide, or the crimes that go unreported.”

The UN also laments the upturn of statistics concerning violence against women and girls which is, according to the office,

“still deeply embedded in cultures around the world that it is almost invisible,” and further describes it as “a construct of power and means of maintaining the status quo.”

Consequently, existing statistics and studies by experts do not reflect the fervid reality of femicide. This scarcity in data, and in clearer, accurate information is due to a lack of awareness, further complicated by the fact that “femicide” is not principally used to address the murder of women and girls in police investigations. Accordingly, statistics on femicide are considered to be “secondary” data - explained by the Centre for Research and Investigation on Violence Against Women and Children.

Additional challenges in obtaining the true number of femicide incidents include

• Inconsistent documentation due to variation across periods and locations (e.g. recording processes, data availability).

• Characteristics of victims are not always known or recorded (e.g. sexual orientation and/or gender identity).

• The clandestine nature of particular activities (e.g. organized crime, armed conflict) makes it difficult to identify the number of women killed.

• Under-investigation of instances of femicide (e.g. deaths of Aboriginal women and girls are not always adequately investigated, resulting in the incorrect classification of these deaths as accidental).

(Centre for Research and Investigation on Violence Against Women and Children; Learning Network, 2015)

5. “Structured sexism”

While there are incessant attempts and protests to highlight and call for justice over the crime of femicide globally, it remains a persistent case around the world, brutally grappling with the lives of those who fell victim to the vicious culture of unabated murder that is rooted in misogyny.

Patriarchy, the demising and discriminating culture that institutionalized men's supremacy, has long been the perennial cause of women’s dehumanizing murder and struggle to mobilize within the society, greatly affecting – to the extent of death – women and girl’s existence. The “structured sexism” – which is interconnected to the patriarchal society – is the belief that male domination is a justification for the inhumane demise of the “weaker sex.”

For example, as stated in Femicide: A Global Issue that Demands Action, men that kill women or girls may be

“motivated by the socially constructed right to do so, their superiority over females, pleasure or sadistic desires towards women, or the assumption of ownership over women.”

The noxious impunity that digs the grave of the female sector in society is the same impunity that allows murderers to relentlessly take lives without the fear of being punished by the law.

6. Femicide has an impact on ALL women and girls

All women and girls are vulnerable to the tragic crime of femicide. It robs the lives of the daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, partners, friends, colleagues, and neighbors that whom the victims had once shared a peal of laughter, a sumptuous dinner, or a simple conversation. It affects society as a whole as it prevents both women and girls from reaching their full potential and from contributing to familial, social, and economic responsibilities. This is a full-blown loss, not just for the close ties of the victim alone, but the community included. This is removing the chance for growth and progress, and most critically, the lives they were denied to live.

ENDING FEMICIDE

Femicide is a crime violating basic human rights to life, liberty, and personal security. It obliterates the freedom of every woman and girl to enjoy their well-being while in a community. It diminishes the role they wish to accomplish. Its complexity and downplayed alarming situation were further complicated by the world’s ignorance and apathy. But here you are, interested in creating a change. Thus, how do we end the merciless killing of women and girls? Tell them what to wear and how to behave within the social sphere? Definitely not one of the solutions – for it only amplifies the men’s delusion that women and girls are subjected to violence if they step out of the female box that was engineered by men.

DDAPLP – the formula that the Centre for Research and Investigation on Violence Against Women and Children has sophisticatedly designed to eradicate femicide.

1. Data and Documentation – strengthen data collection initiatives while also conducting advocacy work to encourage improved data collection. This also refines training officials and increases research activities regarding femicide prevention and intervention.

2. Awareness – develop strong public education about the cause and impacts of violence against women, while increasing citizen engagement and awareness.

3. Prevention – teach boys to be respectful to their female counterparts; that they are equal and in no way men are allowed to objectify – or worst, kill – women and girls.

4. Legislative and Policy Reforms – implement policies that prioritize the abolishment of femicide, and zero tolerance for violence against women and girls. Legislate laws that extremely penalize the offenders and laws that protect the welfare of the female sector.

Now that you are well-equipped with the facts and figures about femicide, it’s your turn to make a decision – either join the protests or advocate for the basic human rights of women and girls. Thus, always remember that your choice creates progress and subsequently affects human lives.