Reports

Alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, another serious and very much preventable pandemic has grown exponentially. This pandemic is known as femicide. Femicide can be defined as “the murder of women because they are women, but broader definitions include any killings of women or girls” (Pan-American Health Organisation, 2012). Femicide is usually perpetrated by men, but sometimes female family members may be involved. Femicide differs from “male homicide” in specific ways. For example, most cases of femicide are “committed by partners or ex-partners, and involve ongoing abuse in the home, threats or intimidation, sexual violence or situations where women have less power or fewer resources than their partner” (Pan-American Health Organisation, 2012). The concept of femicide was first introduced by Diana Russell. In 1976, at the first International Tribunal on Crimes against Women, she stated: “I chose the new term femicide to refer to the killing of females by males because they are female” (Russell, 2011). This definition was significant because Russell added critical political meaning to it and placed it within the broader framework of feminist politics. It highlighted the gendered nature of forms of violence against women and focuses on the man’s desire for power, dominance and control (Radford, 1992).

There are various global institutions mechanisms that protect women from violence and advance their rights in society. These include international bodies such as UN Women (which allows individuals and the Commission on the Status of Women. This also includes frameworks such as the Beijing Platform for Action which encourages states to adopt laws that increase gender equality and empower women.

Additionally, the mandates of the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women have been established as special mechanism procedures by the UN Human Rights Council. There is also the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women which prompted the establishment of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

However, for this report on femicide in Europe, the main mechanism that has the potential to address the serious issue of femicide and violence against women is provided in the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as ‘the Istanbul Convention’. The landmark treaty set the path for creating a legal framework at a pan- European level to protect women against all forms of violence and prevent, prosecute and eliminate
violence against women and domestic violence. The Convention also established a specific monitoring The Shadow Pandemic:
mechanism to ensure the Parties’ effective implementation of its provisions (Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, 2014). The purpose of the Istanbul Agreement was to “protect women against all forms of violence, and prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence; to contribute to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and promote substantive equality between women and men, including by empowering women; to design a comprehensive framework, policies and measures for the protection of and assistance to all victims of violence against women and domestic violence; to promote international co-operation with a view to eliminating violence against women and domestic violence; and provide support and assistance to organisations and law
enforcement agencies to effectively co-operate in order to adopt an integrated approach to eliminating violence against women and domestic violence.” (The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, 2014). While the Treaty was a landmark move in the protection of women against violence, many European states fall short of their obligations under it, whichs has been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also important to note that the term femicide does not appear once in the treaty.

Femicide, like the coronavirus, occurs in every country. It is of the utmost importance to address femicide with the same urgency that the international community has paid to combat COVID-19. Across the world, approximately 90,000 women are intentionally killed each year because they are women (Weil, 2020). The pandemic has highlighted the risk of violence against women, with many women being trapped in their homes in an unsafe environment. Many countries in Europe reported
spikes in instances of domestic violence during the pandemic. Many resources available to victims and survivors have been rolled back to divert health and safety services to the effort to eradicate COVID-19.

Furthermore, with greater isolation, women were less in touch with social networks and support groups, further isolating them from any help. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former Executive Director of UN Women, stated that the limitations brought on by the pandemic “fuel impunity for the perpetrators”, and in many countries, “the law is not on women’s side; one in four countries have no laws specifically protecting women from domestic violence” (UN News, 2020). The impunity for perpetrators and apparent lack of attention from Member States on the issue of violence against women have enabled the number of femicides to grow, and this report aims to highlight the alarming rate of femicide in Europe and the importance of addressing the issue to protect women and girls from this preventable endemic.