Femicide is the worst form of violence against women. It is the killing of a girl or woman, particularly by a man, and often related to her gender. In the 1970s, the term was popularised by feminist activist Professor Diana E.H. Russell at the International Tribunal of Crimes Against Women. It was intended to separate it from the general term “homicide”, and bring attention to the targeted and systematic violence and discrimination committed against women because of who they are. The act of femicide and the struggle for the safety of women in their homes and acknowledgement of their suffering has a long history that is present in every country, and despite global strides towards equality and justice, the murder and abuse of women is still a horrifyingly prevalent issue.
Tragically, femicide is most often carried out by people the victim knows. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime claims that “50,000 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or family members in 2024”. That is equal to one every 10 minutes. These actions were carried out for many reasons, such as domestic violence, where a spouse or partner is responsible for 40% of femicides. Other causes include familial abuse and neglect, cultural practices such as “honour killings”, bigotry, and coercive control. Femicide by intimate partners or family members often does not happen suddenly. It can be the culmination of years of gender based violence, abuse, and manipulation. In too many places women are affected by escalating assault but are unable to leave due to manipulative and controlling tactics by the abuser or by familial ties. Domestic abuse is still relatively common in every country on Earth, and it is immensely important that action is taken on every level to prevent it.
The reason femicide occurs can be due to religious or cultural conflicts as well. In many places around the world, old practices such as “honour killings” are still a pertinent issue. Honour killing is the practice of the murder of mainly women in order to preserve or restore honour that is perceived as lost by the individual. Usually committed by the victim’s family, the perpetrators use violence against family members they believe to have violated cultural or social norms. This is most often the case when related to sexual or marital behaviour, where a woman has committed a perceived dishonourable action, such as performing sexual acts, refusing arranged marriages, or dating people the family doesn’t approve of. This practice is deeply rooted in patriarchal power structures and male-dominated families. Historically, many ancient societies legally allowed the killing of women to restore honour, or as a punishment for failing the family, and these norms still linger in the world today. While more prevalent in regions of South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, honour killings have taken place all across the world by many different groups, indicating it is not necessarily tied to certain regions, religions, and ethnicities. Violence against women isn’t contained to one group of people.
In history, there have been numerous instances of systematic or long-term oppression and murder of women, or otherwise large-scale discrimination. For instance, between 1979 and 2015 China implemented its “One-child policy”, enforcing strict limits on the number of children a family can have in order to deal with fears concerning overpopulation, outpacing economic growth, and overwhelming natural resources. One issue with this is the strong cultural preference placed on sons in their society at the time. A male heir was seen as necessary to carry on the family name and support them economically, while a daughter was considered a burden. This led to millions of women being aborted before they could be born or killed or abandoned as babies, also known as infanticide. As a consequence of this China now suffers from gender imbalance caused by millions of these “missing women”, resulting in a skewed population and a marriage crisis where many men are unable to find a wife. As of 2016 there are over 30 million more men than women in China. While the one-child policy has been discontinued, its effects are still evident today and cause further discrimination and gender based violence towards women.
Outside of people known by the victim, many women are targeted specifically in acts of gender-based violence or bigotry. Femicide can be committed because of premeditated murder, acts of sexual assault, or misogynistic killings. In the modern day, the internet has enabled stalkers to find and track victims online. In many ways, it is difficult to determine whether murder is based on gender or for other reasons, especially when reading large amounts of data. Different countries classify crimes differently, making it difficult to understand the scale of the issue and make the problem clear. Undoubtedly, the number of femicides in the world is far larger and more widespread than what is reported.
Femicide can be prevented and fought against. It is not an inevitable problem, but one caused by systemic issues, discrimination, and history. By addressing the root causes of gender based violence, its prevalence can be reduced. Societal movements that condemn and prohibit discrimination towards women can counteract some of the prejudices that cause it. When it comes to domestic abuse, the police and justice sectors of the world must take claims of abuse seriously and act quickly; many deaths can be prevented by the intervention of the authorities before it is too late. Women’s rights organisations and movements also play a crucial role in preventing violence and seeking justice for its victims. They should be supported financially and taken seriously by world governments to drive policy change, stand up for women, find perpetrators of violence and hold them to account.