Femicide and feminicide in the world

Abstract

Femicide is the worst manifestation of gender violence.

It is deeply rooted and a manifestation of power imbalances in society, which promote an unequal status for men and women. Femicide is broadly defined as the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender and can take many forms, such as killing women as a result of intimate partner violence; the misogynistic torture and killing of women; killing women and girls in the name of "honour".

The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) supports member states in their efforts to call the killing of females femicide, as the gender-neutral term homicide overlooks the realities of inequality, oppression, and systematic violence against women. The institute also provides statistical data to member states because the consistent and publicly available collection of administrative data is the first step towards preventing femicide.

EIGE conducts research on Member States' legal responses to help them end femicide, which requires effective prevention, thorough investigation, and diligent prosecution. "A silent war against women". This is how the phenomenon of femicide was defined by the Mediterranean Institute of Investigative Journalism (MIIR) in Athens.

Feminicide is a phenomenon that manifests itself through the selective killing of members of a community or of fetuses according to the criterion of their sex.