Reports
Femicides in International and European Law
- Women's Rights Team
- 8 October 2024
A cry of anger becomes increasingly familiar in a world where machismo still kills every day. A world where sexual violence is finally recognised as a scourge after millennia of tolerance, or at least ignorance. A world where patriarchal oppression continues to shape social relations, giving men the impression that they must still dominate to reign.
The 21st century marks a turning point in the fight against these systemic violences, echoing the cries of women who no longer allow these brutalities to flourish without a fight. The fight for eradication of sexual and gender-based violence sparks the rise of new movements. Among the words displayed on every wall is femicide. Femicide, the gender violence at the end of the violence chain, becomes the spearhead of feminist struggles. While the word is on everyone’s lips, the term femicide is far from unanimous. The democratisation of this term is recent and continues to divide as much as it unites.
Yet, the need to continue the fight is illustrated by the figures gathered around femicide. According to a 2022 United Nations report, nearly 48,000 women and girls are intentionally killed worldwide by their intimate partner or a family member. Every day, approximately 133 women perish at the hands of a member of their own family. Every hour, around six women and girls are murdered by a spouse or family member. While these figures are particularly alarming, they only account for the tip of the iceberg. Documenting feminicide is still particularly difficult because in 2024 we still do not know exactly what this word truly signifies (UNODC & UN Women, 2022).
Consensus is still far off. Despite this, there is some agreement concerning the definition of this form of sexual violence. This understanding defines femicide as the murder of a woman by a man because of her gender. In other words, femicide would essentially amount to the misogynistic murder of a woman by a man. But the reality is much more diverse and complex than this brief definition.
Femicide operates at multiple levels, so much so that we still do not know how to make visible the process by which these violence acts occur. Indeed, this phenomenon would not be explained, like some other violences, by an ordinary urban context, but by the very existence of women. Femicide is a social, cultural, legal, and political phenomenon based on gender motivation reflecting unequal power dynamics (Bodiou L, et al 2019).
The social constructions that continue to support the walls of our society foster a culture of domination. Femicide, as old as patriarchy, flourishes in the maintenance of the culture of inferiority. Women have long been shaped to submit to men. Throughout their lives, they are prepared to be mere subordinates to the male gender. The habitus of this predisposition of women to subordination reinforces the legitimacy of male domination. Tolerating violence against women is not a new thing in 2024. It is, in fact, only the continuity of an androcentric order in which women are perceived as utilities, mere means of reproduction, whose lives have no social, economic, or symbolic value. Women’s lives continue to be presumed meaningless if they do not satisfy the desires and aspirations of the men around them. Resorting to femicide allows them to attack the integrity and lives of these women, who are judged unsatisfactory, useless, and disloyal, and this has been the case for centuries. The reality is that femicide as a term is something new, but misogynistic murder of a woman by a man is one of the oldest forms of violence in humanity (Bejarano Celaya, 2014).
This report focuses mainly on femicide in International and European law. Chapter One scrutinises the history of a phenomenon unmanned and the controversies around the naming of femicide. Chapter Two focuses on the categorisation of an intersectional phenomenon, in the continuum of violence. Chapter Three analyses the international instruments agreed norms and standards addressing violence against women, and especially femicide. Chapter Four examines one of the most famous cases regarding femicide, the Ciudad Juarez case. Chapter Five details the limits to the recognition of femicide. Finally, Chapter Six encompasses the measures around the prevention and repression of femicide.
The 21st century marks a turning point in the fight against these systemic violences, echoing the cries of women who no longer allow these brutalities to flourish without a fight. The fight for eradication of sexual and gender-based violence sparks the rise of new movements. Among the words displayed on every wall is femicide. Femicide, the gender violence at the end of the violence chain, becomes the spearhead of feminist struggles. While the word is on everyone’s lips, the term femicide is far from unanimous. The democratisation of this term is recent and continues to divide as much as it unites.
Yet, the need to continue the fight is illustrated by the figures gathered around femicide. According to a 2022 United Nations report, nearly 48,000 women and girls are intentionally killed worldwide by their intimate partner or a family member. Every day, approximately 133 women perish at the hands of a member of their own family. Every hour, around six women and girls are murdered by a spouse or family member. While these figures are particularly alarming, they only account for the tip of the iceberg. Documenting feminicide is still particularly difficult because in 2024 we still do not know exactly what this word truly signifies (UNODC & UN Women, 2022).
Consensus is still far off. Despite this, there is some agreement concerning the definition of this form of sexual violence. This understanding defines femicide as the murder of a woman by a man because of her gender. In other words, femicide would essentially amount to the misogynistic murder of a woman by a man. But the reality is much more diverse and complex than this brief definition.
Femicide operates at multiple levels, so much so that we still do not know how to make visible the process by which these violence acts occur. Indeed, this phenomenon would not be explained, like some other violences, by an ordinary urban context, but by the very existence of women. Femicide is a social, cultural, legal, and political phenomenon based on gender motivation reflecting unequal power dynamics (Bodiou L, et al 2019).
The social constructions that continue to support the walls of our society foster a culture of domination. Femicide, as old as patriarchy, flourishes in the maintenance of the culture of inferiority. Women have long been shaped to submit to men. Throughout their lives, they are prepared to be mere subordinates to the male gender. The habitus of this predisposition of women to subordination reinforces the legitimacy of male domination. Tolerating violence against women is not a new thing in 2024. It is, in fact, only the continuity of an androcentric order in which women are perceived as utilities, mere means of reproduction, whose lives have no social, economic, or symbolic value. Women’s lives continue to be presumed meaningless if they do not satisfy the desires and aspirations of the men around them. Resorting to femicide allows them to attack the integrity and lives of these women, who are judged unsatisfactory, useless, and disloyal, and this has been the case for centuries. The reality is that femicide as a term is something new, but misogynistic murder of a woman by a man is one of the oldest forms of violence in humanity (Bejarano Celaya, 2014).
This report focuses mainly on femicide in International and European law. Chapter One scrutinises the history of a phenomenon unmanned and the controversies around the naming of femicide. Chapter Two focuses on the categorisation of an intersectional phenomenon, in the continuum of violence. Chapter Three analyses the international instruments agreed norms and standards addressing violence against women, and especially femicide. Chapter Four examines one of the most famous cases regarding femicide, the Ciudad Juarez case. Chapter Five details the limits to the recognition of femicide. Finally, Chapter Six encompasses the measures around the prevention and repression of femicide.
✨ AI summary
A cry of anger becomes increasingly familiar in a world where machismo still kills every day. A world where sexual violence is finally recognised as a scourge after millennia of tolerance, or at least ignorance. A world where patriarchal oppression continues to shape social relations, giving men the impression that they must still dominate to reign.
The 21st century marks a turning point in the fight against these systemic violences, echoing the cries of women who no longer allow these brutalities to flourish without a fight. The fight for eradication of sexual and gender-based violence sparks the rise of new movements. Among the words displayed on every wall is femicide. Femicide, the gender violence at the end of the violence chain, becomes the spearhead of feminist struggles. While the word is on everyone’s lips, the term femicide is far from unanimous. The democratisation of this term is recent and continues to divide as much as it unites.
Yet, the need to continue the fight is illustrated by the figures gathered around femicide. According to a 2022 United Nations report, nearly 48,000 women and girls are intentionally killed worldwide by their intimate partner or a family member. Every day, approximately 133 women perish at the hands of a member of their own family. Every hour, around six women and girls are murdered by a spouse or family member. While these figures are particularly alarming, they only account for the tip of the iceberg. Documenting feminicide is still particularly difficult because in 2024 we still do not know exactly what this word truly signifies (UNODC & UN Women, 2022).
Consensus is still far off. Despite this, there is some agreement concerning the definition of this form of sexual violence. This understanding defines femicide as the murder of a woman by a man because of her gender. In other words, femicide would essentially amount to the misogynistic murder of a woman by a man. But the reality is much more diverse and complex than this brief definition.
Femicide operates at multiple levels, so much so that we still do not know how to make visible the process by which these violence acts occur. Indeed, this phenomenon would not be explained, like some other violences, by an ordinary urban context, but by the very existence of women. Femicide is a social, cultural, legal, and political phenomenon based on gender motivation reflecting unequal power dynamics (Bodiou L, et al 2019).
The social constructions that continue to support the walls of our society foster a culture of domination. Femicide, as old as patriarchy, flourishes in the maintenance of the culture of inferiority. Women have long been shaped to submit to men. Throughout their lives, they are prepared to be mere subordinates to the male gender. The habitus of this predisposition of women to subordination reinforces the legitimacy of male domination. Tolerating violence against women is not a new thing in 2024. It is, in fact, only the continuity of an androcentric order in which women are perceived as utilities, mere means of reproduction, whose lives have no social, economic, or symbolic value. Women’s lives continue to be presumed meaningless if they do not satisfy the desires and aspirations of the men around them. Resorting to femicide allows them to attack the integrity and lives of these women, who are judged unsatisfactory, useless, and disloyal, and this has been the case for centuries. The reality is that femicide as a term is something new, but misogynistic murder of a woman by a man is one of the oldest forms of violence in humanity (Bejarano Celaya, 2014).
This report focuses mainly on femicide in International and European law. Chapter One scrutinises the history of a phenomenon unmanned and the controversies around the naming of femicide. Chapter Two focuses on the categorisation of an intersectional phenomenon, in the continuum of violence. Chapter Three analyses the international instruments agreed norms and standards addressing violence against women, and especially femicide. Chapter Four examines one of the most famous cases regarding femicide, the Ciudad Juarez case. Chapter Five details the limits to the recognition of femicide. Finally, Chapter Six encompasses the measures around the prevention and repression of femicide.
The 21st century marks a turning point in the fight against these systemic violences, echoing the cries of women who no longer allow these brutalities to flourish without a fight. The fight for eradication of sexual and gender-based violence sparks the rise of new movements. Among the words displayed on every wall is femicide. Femicide, the gender violence at the end of the violence chain, becomes the spearhead of feminist struggles. While the word is on everyone’s lips, the term femicide is far from unanimous. The democratisation of this term is recent and continues to divide as much as it unites.
Yet, the need to continue the fight is illustrated by the figures gathered around femicide. According to a 2022 United Nations report, nearly 48,000 women and girls are intentionally killed worldwide by their intimate partner or a family member. Every day, approximately 133 women perish at the hands of a member of their own family. Every hour, around six women and girls are murdered by a spouse or family member. While these figures are particularly alarming, they only account for the tip of the iceberg. Documenting feminicide is still particularly difficult because in 2024 we still do not know exactly what this word truly signifies (UNODC & UN Women, 2022).
Consensus is still far off. Despite this, there is some agreement concerning the definition of this form of sexual violence. This understanding defines femicide as the murder of a woman by a man because of her gender. In other words, femicide would essentially amount to the misogynistic murder of a woman by a man. But the reality is much more diverse and complex than this brief definition.
Femicide operates at multiple levels, so much so that we still do not know how to make visible the process by which these violence acts occur. Indeed, this phenomenon would not be explained, like some other violences, by an ordinary urban context, but by the very existence of women. Femicide is a social, cultural, legal, and political phenomenon based on gender motivation reflecting unequal power dynamics (Bodiou L, et al 2019).
The social constructions that continue to support the walls of our society foster a culture of domination. Femicide, as old as patriarchy, flourishes in the maintenance of the culture of inferiority. Women have long been shaped to submit to men. Throughout their lives, they are prepared to be mere subordinates to the male gender. The habitus of this predisposition of women to subordination reinforces the legitimacy of male domination. Tolerating violence against women is not a new thing in 2024. It is, in fact, only the continuity of an androcentric order in which women are perceived as utilities, mere means of reproduction, whose lives have no social, economic, or symbolic value. Women’s lives continue to be presumed meaningless if they do not satisfy the desires and aspirations of the men around them. Resorting to femicide allows them to attack the integrity and lives of these women, who are judged unsatisfactory, useless, and disloyal, and this has been the case for centuries. The reality is that femicide as a term is something new, but misogynistic murder of a woman by a man is one of the oldest forms of violence in humanity (Bejarano Celaya, 2014).
This report focuses mainly on femicide in International and European law. Chapter One scrutinises the history of a phenomenon unmanned and the controversies around the naming of femicide. Chapter Two focuses on the categorisation of an intersectional phenomenon, in the continuum of violence. Chapter Three analyses the international instruments agreed norms and standards addressing violence against women, and especially femicide. Chapter Four examines one of the most famous cases regarding femicide, the Ciudad Juarez case. Chapter Five details the limits to the recognition of femicide. Finally, Chapter Six encompasses the measures around the prevention and repression of femicide.
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