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Femicide

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Femicide or Feminicide is broadly defined as the killing of women but definitions vary depending on the cultural context and user context. Feminist author Dr. Diana E. H. Russell is one of the early pioneers of the term, and she currently defines the word as "the killing of females by males because they are females." Other feminists place emphasis on the intentionality of the act, while others include the killing of females by females when it perpetrates male-centered views. Most emphasize the idea that the murders are motivated, directly or indirectly, by misogyny and sexist motives. Oftentimes, the necessity of defining the murder of females separately from overall homicide is questioned. Opponents argue that over 80% of all murders are of men, so the term places too much emphasis on the less prevalent murder of females. An alternative option they offer is the term gendercide which is more ambiguous and inclusive, but feminists argue perpetrates the taboo of the subject of femicide. Feminists also argue that the motives for femicide are vastly different than those that are involved in homicide, and instead of centering around street violence, much of the violence is centered within the home.

The manifestations of femicide vary greatly depending on culture and definition of the word. Using Diana Russell's definition, femicide includes intimate partner femicide, lesbicide, racial femicide, serial femicide, mass femicide, honor killing related femicide, dowry related femicide, sex-selective infant femicide and more. Any act of sexual terrorism that results in death is considered a femicide. This includes forms of covert femicide as well, such as criminalization of abortion that leads to death from unsafe abortions, or death as a result of female genital mutilation.

Overview of femicide

The term femicide is most broadly defined as the killing of a woman.[1] Feminist author, Diana Russell, narrows this definition of femicide to "the killing of females by males because they are female." Russell places emphasis on the idea that males commit femicide due to sexist motives.[2] She also chooses to replace the word woman with female to show that femicide can occur to both girls and infants as well.[2] Russell believes her definition of femicide applies to all forms of sexist killing, whether they be motivated by misogyny (the hatred of females), by a sense of superiority over females, by sexual pleasure, or by assumption of ownership over women.[2] Russell's broader definition of femicide is stated as this,

“Femicide is on the extreme end of a continuum of antifemale terror that includes a wide variety of verbal and physical abuse, such as rape, torture, sexual slavery(particularly in prostitution), incestuous and extrafamilial child sexual abuse, physical and emotional battery, sexual harassment (on the phone, in the streets, at the office, and in the classroom), genital mutilation (clitoridectomies, excision, infibulations), unnecessary gynecological operations(gratuitous hysterectomies), forced heterosexuality, forced sterilization, forced motherhood (by criminalizing contraception and abortion), psychosurgery, denial of food towomen in some cultures, cosmetic surgery, and other mutilations in the name of beautification. Whenever these forms of terrorism result in death, they become femicides.” [3]

She includes covert killings of women as well, such as the mass murder of female babies due to male preference in cultures such as India and China, as well as deaths as a result of social institutions, such as the criminalization of abortion or prevalence of female genital mutilation.[2]

However, Russell's definition is not agreed upon as the standard definition for the term. Jacquelyn Campbell and Carol Runyan use the word femicide to reference to "all killings of women regardless of motive or perpetrator status" [4] These authors argue that motive is not always empirically able to be determined, and so must be removed from the qualification for femicide in order to gather data. On the other hand, authors Desmond Ellis and Walter Dekesedery take a different approach by viewing the definition for femicide as "the intentional killing of females by males".[5] These feminists require that femicide always be intentional unlike the inclusion of covert femicide in Diana Russell's definition.[5] Most of these definitions imply that the perpetrator of femicide is a man, but South Asian feminists differ in their definition stating that femicide is "the intentional killing of females by men and of females by other females in the interests of men." [2] Examples of this include neglect of female children in preference of males, as well as dowry related murder where female in-laws kill women due to dowry disputes. All of these definitions reference to the idea that femicide is unique from non-gendered descriptions of murder and homicide. Instead, defining femicide exemplifies the fact that women are killed for different reasons and motives than those associated with typical descriptions of murder.[6] Globally, femicide has seldom been investigated separately from homicide, and the goals of many of these authors is to make femicide a separate category.[4]

Types

Femicide occurs in many different forms, depending on the definition of the term as well as area of the world. One of the most common and least publicized forms of femicide is that committed by an intimate partner of a female, such as a current or former husband, boyfriend or common-law husband. This form of femicide accounts for at least 35% of all murders of woman globally [7] Other types of femicide include serial femicide, rape femicide, prostituted woman femicide, lesbiphobic femicide, sexual abuse-related femicide and mass femicide.[2] Different areas of the world experience varying types of femicide. For example, the Middle East and South Asia have higher rates of honor killing which is the murder of women by their family due to an actual or assumed sexual or behavioral transgression such as adultery, sexual intercourse, or even rape.[7] India and China experience femicide differently due to high levels of sex-selective abortion and infanticide of girls because of their cultures strong preference for male children.[2] Depending on the definition employed, femicide can also include deaths as a result of female genital mutilation, the known spreading of HIV/AIDS, and unsafe abortions in countries where access to abortion is stymied or illegal.[2] Femicide can be committed by intimate partners, family members, friends, co-workers and strangers.[2]

Historical evolution of the term

Femicide was first used in England in 1801 to signify "the killing of a woman."[8] In 1848, this term was published in Wharton's Law Lexicon, suggesting that it had become a prosecutable offense.[9] Another term used is feminicide.

The modern term emerged in tandem with the 1970s feminist movements, which aimed to raise feminine consciousness and resistance against gender oppression.[10] American author, Carol Orlock, is widely credited with inventing the term in her unpublished anthology on femicide.[10] Dr. Diana Russell is lauded as the first to instigate the usage and to facilitate the publishing of the term at the Crimes Against Women Tribunal in 1976.[11] Here is part of what she wrote for the proceedings: “We must realize that a lot of homicide is in fact femicide. We must recognize the sexual politics of murder. From the burning of witches in the past, to the more recent widespread custom of female infanticide in many societies, to the killing of women for “honor,” we realize that femicide has been going on a long time. But since it involves mere females, there was no name for it until Carol Orlock invented the word ‘femicide.'" [11]

Distinction from homicide

“...[Femicide] is proposed as an alternative to the gender-neutral term of ‘homicide’. As such, it seeks to highlight the killing of women for being women, a phenomenon linked closely with sexual violence enacted to punish, blame and control the actions, emotions and behaviour of women.” [10] Feminists and proponents of the word believe it is prudent to make the distinction between homicide and femicide. The distinction is not meant to denigrate or render invisible the murder of men because, indeed, they do make up 80% of the victims of global murders and are the vast majority of perpetrators.[12] Femicide is distinct from general homicide because the preponderance of instances occur in domestic settings as a result of intimate partner or family violence, while policies targeting homicide often “...focus on street violence and organized crime, leaving aside domestic violence.” [12] Part of this political oversight is the lack of data on violence against women which has many consequences on how thoroughly and properly their murders are investigated, prosecuted and classified.[12] “Violence against women is the most frequent and less punished crime in the world...it may be classified as manslaughter or unintentional homicide, because there is a high level of tolerance of violence against women.” [12]

A common critique of femicide cites the preferred use of “gendercide,” which is more gender-neutral and more widely applicable. “For the proponents of the term [femicide], this is simply more proof of the taboo nature of feminicide and the silencing power of male structures within society which prevent women from actively naming violence against them and resisting its multiple forms.” [10] Another critique that stems from this one, targets the dearth of rigueur in the political, philosophical and legal conceptualization of the term. Some view it as too general and at risk of designating any negative action toward women as femicide and thereby diffusing its usefulness as a feminist tool. “Indeed, it is questionable to what extent one term which covers such a wide range of practices in a variety of different cultures can be legitimately used without harming culturally-specific attempts to define and then counteract social practices.” [10]

Types of femicide

Intimate partner femicide

Intimate partner femicide, sometimes called intimate femicide, refers to "the killing of a woman by her intimate partner or her former intimate partner." These include former or current boyfriends, husbands and common-law husbands. This form of femicide accounts for 40-50% of all deaths of American women killed,[13] and each day in the United States results in the deaths of 4 women.[6] Globally, South Africa, with the highest female murder rate, experiences intimate partner femicide every 6 hours. Spain, on the other hand, reports an intimate partner femicide rate of 1 woman every 2 days. Yearly, India's government reports the deaths of 5,000 woman to this cause, but this number is believed to be grossly underestimated due to the under-reported prevalence of honor killings and dowry-related murders. However, intimate partner femicide only accounts for 5-8% of all murders of men, disproportionately affecting women to a large extent, making it a gendered problem.[13] In fact, women are disproportionately represented as victims of all family violence including incest, sexual harrassment, rape and battering. These acts of violence are found to escalate over time within a relationship, possibly resulting in femicide.[2] The prevalence of intimate partner femicide dispels the myth that women have the most to fear from strangers, and instead are most often killed within the private sphere of the home, the area where they are supposedly most safe according to global ideals.[14] The main motives that cause men to kill their intimate partners are found to first of all be jealousy, which Jacquelyn Campbell argues is a result of male efforts to control and possess women in their attempt to display ownership and reinforce patriarchy.[6]

Risk factors that increase the likelihood of intimate partner femicide include: when a male has previously threatened to commit suicide or kill the women if a woman cheats/leaves him, when there is elevated alcohol or drug abuse by either partner, or when a male attempts to control a woman's freedom. 2/5 of intimate partner femicide are related to use of intoxicants.[13] Other factors commonly associated with male perpetrators of femicide include gun ownership, forcing sexual intercourse, and unemployment. Risk factors for women include: if they are pregnant, have faced prior abuse from their partner, are estranged from their partner or are attempting to leave a relationship, then their likelihood of femicide increases.[7] The presence of firearms within a home is a large factor in intimate partner femicide, and world-wide firearms are used in 1/3 of all femicides.[15]

Intimate partner femicide, as reported in the media, oftentimes is presented sympathetically towards the male perpetrators. Males are seen as "being driven" to commit femicide due to a "breakdown in love attributed to the female." [13] In defense trials, the defense of provocation is often used to reduce the time men serve in prison. This idea of provocation is the idea that any "reasonable man can be provoked into killing by insubordination on the part of a woman." Conversely, women are not oftentimes able to use this idea of provocation in their own murder trials, and judges are less likely to accept claims of self-defense, showing biased judging standards.[6]

Factors that decrease the risk of intimate partner femicide include a separate domicile for women, a university education, as well as societal factors such as more police as well as mandated arrest for violation of restraining orders related to intimate partner violence. Karen D. Stout found that there is a correlation between the number of women's shelters in a state as well as number of rape crisis centers and a lowered rate of femicide. The implementation of these measures as well as legislation that defines civil injunction relief, defines physical abuse as a criminal offense, allows arrest without a warrant, requires data collection and reporting and provides funds for women's shelters all have had a positive effect on lowering the femicide rate.[6]

Serial femicide

Serial femicide is defined as "the sexually sadistic killing of women" sometimes called "sexual terrorism." Feminist definitions of serial murder differ from traditional definitions in that feminists view these murders as male-perpetrated crimes that focus on killing women as a means of sexual gratification as well as a show of dominance over women. They claim that gender-neutral terms hide the reality that victims of serial murder are predominantly female. However, not all serial murderers are male, in fact, 15% are female, just as not all targets are necessarily female. Male serial murderers tend to use more brutal methods of killing such as suffocation and beatings, while women use methods such as poison or less violent measures.[16] Serial killers in the United States are almost always white men, and 90% of the people they kill are females.[6] The ways serial murderers are portrayed in the media reflect the views on femicide and gender in society. Oftentimes, murders of prostitutes/lower-class women by serial killers are less advertised in the media as opposed to killing of rich white women. Serial killers are almost always portrayed as monsters and sociopaths in the news, negating the idea held by many feminists that violence against women is normalized in patriarchal culture.[16]

Feminists such as Diana Russell and Jane Caputi believe that there is a link between the rise of serial murders and the advent of pornography. Specifically, the advent of snuff films, or films that eroticize violence and murder of women, has been correlated to the desires of serial killers. Infamous serial murderer Ted Bundy stated that there was a link between his lifelong use of pornography and his evolution into a serial killer. A 1986 FBI study of 36 serial killers found that pornography was the primary "sexual interest" of 81% of them. Numerous serial murderers filmed their victims as they violently killed them, these men include Harvey Glatman, Kenneth Bianchi, and Leonard Lake to name a few.[6] However, the link between pornography and serial murders is not completely proven, and it cannot be said to have transformed normal men into sadistic killers.[16]

Mass femicide

Femicide can manifest as a mass murder of women "...similar to a genocide, only directed toward a gender rather than a similar cultural or ethnic background." [17] According to Dr. Diana Russell, the gendered nature of the AIDS epidemic in South Africa which disproportionately affects women constitutes mass femicide.[18] Another example, given by scholar Marielouise Janssen-Jurriet, is female infanticide through sex selective abortion which may be responsible for the millions of women missing, especially from Asia.[6] Mass femicide can also be viewed as systematic femicide, which often occurs in war zones through armed conflict but can also be used by gangs and organized crime syndicates.[12]

Racist femicide

Racist femicide is "the killing of women because of their race or culture, by men of another race." [19] According to Dr. Diana Russell and Dr. Jill Radford, "Racism interacts with violence against women and shapes both femicide itself and the ways it is addressed by the local community, the police, the media, and the legal system." [6] Russell and Radford, as well as many other feminist activists, assert that when looking at femicide, within the United States specifically, one must consider the politics of both sexism and racism in the murders of black women and the little justice that is often served.[20] Media coverage especially can exhibit bias when covering the murders of black versus white women. Jaime Grant writes on the murder of 12 young women in Boston and exposes the "...racism in media coverage, which virtually ignored these killings initially and later depicted the victims in racist and sexist stereotypes as runaways or prostitutes." [6] In addition, police response and investigation can often differ based on race of the victim.[6]

Lesbicide

Lesbicide, also known as homophobic femicide,[6] has a long history exists of legalized murder of lesbians in many different cultural contexts:

  • Roman civilization: a married woman convicted of engaging in any sexual activity with another woman could be killed by her husband as a "just penalty for her crime." [6]
  • Medieval Europe: secular and religious doctrine mandated death for lesbianism. "The famous 1260 Code of Orleans in France secularized the prohibition of lesbianism, mandating that for the first two offenses a woman would 'lose her member'; for the third offense she would be burned." [6]
  • Witch-hunt of the 1400s: Witchcraft was linked with heresy and homosexuality, "...the phrase femina cum feminus (woman with woman) was apparently often an acusation in witch trials.[6]

Today, lesbianism is no longer a capital crime but it remains criminalized by many governments and condemned by most religions.[6] Torture and murder of lesbians occurs in every part of the world, even in "developed" countries.[21] According to Dr. Susan Hawthorne of Victoria University, "...domination is exemplified in the punishment of lesbians as outsiders in patriarchal culture..." [21] Dr. Hawthorne goes on to elaborate that lesbians are often killed or tortured or generally denied rights because of their invisibility in terms of political power and social representation: "When it comes to campaigns on violence against women, lesbians are either left out or included only in a footnote..." [21]

Corrective rape

Corrective rape is a hate crime that constitutes forced sexual activity with a woman, who is gender non-conforming and/or a lesbian. The goal of corrective rape is to "correct" the victim's sexual orientation and make them heterosexual and/or to make them behave in a more gender-conforming manner.[21] In extreme cases this has led to death.[21] There are documented cases in South Africa,[22] Zimbabwe,[23] Ecuador,[24] and Thailand.[25] See Eudy Simelane for a well known example of simultaneous corrective rape and lesbicide in South Africa.

Femicide worldwide

A Chart of femicide rates.
Global Femicide Rates.[26]

Every year 66,000 women are violently killed globally. The rates of femicide differ depending on the specific country, but of the countries with the top 25 highest femicide rates, 50% are in Latin America, with number one being El Salvador. Also included in the top 25 are 7 European countries, 3 Asian countries and 1 African country, South Africa. Worldwide, the ratio of murdered men to women is 5:1, but in countries with lower homicide rates this ratio eventually narrows to 1:1. This is theorized to be due to "inevitable" crimes of passion which disproportionately affect women. It has been found that as the rate of femicide increases, the ratio of intimate partner femicide decreases, pointing to the idea that as violence in a society increases, so does the femicide rate due to violence outside the home. This is often tied to high levels of tolerance of violence against women in countries. In a UN study, 1 in 4 women in the top 25 countries agreed that it was justifiable to be beaten or hit for arguing with their husband or refusing to have sex with him. Overall, data on femicide worldwide is poor, and oftentimes countries do not report gender differences in murder statistics.[26]

United States

Femicide in the United States accounts for the deaths of 4 women daily.[2] It is the leading cause of death for African American women ages 15–24 and is also the leading cause of on-the-job death for women. Since the 1970s, the rates of femicide in the United States has fluctuated between 3.8-4.5 deaths per 100,000 women.[27] Femicide is the second leading cause of death for all women in the United States ages 20–24, and it most often occurs through intimate partner femicide.[28] One of the largest predictors of femicide in the United States is the appearance of physical abuse, which was found in 79% of all femicide cases in North Carolina.[27] Gun availability in the United States has also had a substantial effect on femicide, correlating to 67.9% of deaths in a study by Karen D. Stout.[2] Living in neighborhoods with increased poverty, ethnic heterogeneity and collective efficacy (social cohesion among neighbors) are all found to be linked to increased femicide rates in that area.[28] Across the nation femicide rates vary, with the highest rate in 1985 being found in Alabama and the lowest in Iowa. Geographically, the highest prevalence of femicide occurs in the Southeast and Southwest areas of the country. The perpetrators of femicide are most often the husbands of the murdered woman, followed by boyfriends. They tend to be of the same race as their victim, and older than their victim as well. The act is most often carried out with firearms, then with knives and then beatings following as most widely used methods of women-slaughter. Feminists view the American attitude towards love as one of the reasons these intimate partner femicide occur. Feminist Hildegard Peplau states that Americans are sentimental about love and that they de-emphasize the cultural forces that shape who you love and the dynamics of that love. She believes the United States greatly neglects the dynamics of power in a relationship, and how that power goes to the male. Because of these patriarchal values in this nation, regulation of females by males is culturally permitted inside the private sphere of the home. In fact, the home is one of the most dangerous areas for a women to be in terms of femicide. Also, reporting of female victims of femicide in the US is stymied due to the supposed belief that female victims are not an anomaly, but the expected victims due to being vulnerable and passive.[2]

Latin America

According to Rashida Manjoo of the Human Rights Council, while femicide occurs all over the world the cases in Latin America are especially notorious. Many of these young femicide victims were raped, tortured, and mutilated.[29] Women in many Latin American contexts are exposed to a heightened level of vulnerability due to poverty, fragile State governments, narcotraffic, organized crime, and militarized post-conflict situation.[29] Also according to the Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on violence against women, “In several Central American countries, the prevalence of killing of women and girls had increased at an alarming rate compared to men, with the majority of victims representing young women from vulnerable and marginalized backgrounds." [29] Killings have often been unreported or misreported as “crimes of passion” or “gang-related crimes." [29] According to Dr. Julia Estela Monárrez-Fragoso of the Colegio de la Frontera Norte based in Ciudad Juarez, victims are often blamed for being out late or hanging around “questionable” areas like discotecas or nightclubs.[30] According to the Human Rights Council, Law specifically penalizing femicide have been passed in Latin America, however, the lack of a common definition (which can range from intimate partner violence to killing in the both private and public spheres) has resulted in weak application and impunity for many perpetrators.[29] In a Report on the Violations of Women's Rights in Guatemala by a United Nations Human Rights Committee, "The The State’s failure to enforce the law is highly problematic. Cases involving femicide and violence against women are not prioritized due in part to held-over beliefs and historic assumptions about what role women play in society." [31] Feminists in Latin America have been among the first to adopt the term femicide to refer to the massive number of these misogynist crimes in Juarez, Mexico. According to Dr. Diana Russell, the use of this term inspired feminists in Latin America to organize anti-femicide groups to try to challenge this social injustice towards women.[32] Use of the term femicide, and the creation of anti-femicide feminist organizations, spread from Mexico to many other Latin American countries, like Guatemala.[31]

Many activists and scholars, like Dr. Monárrez, have argued that connections exist between the femicides and neoliberal policies, namely NAFTA, which have served to open trade borders and increase foreign investment targeted at manufacturing low-cost garments in maquiladoras.[30] It has been observed that many of the women killed in Juarez are young mothers who migrate to this region seeking employment in maquiladoras.[30] They then become easy targets because they are separated from their family and are typically alone when traveling home, policy solutions in Central America have tried making transportation safer and is expounded upon below under policy solutions. Other scholars, like Dr. Itallurde, point to the culpability of corporations "...based on the concepts and doctrines of tortious negligence, failure to protect, and aiding and abetting." [33] Other scholars, like Dr. Volk and Dr. Schlotterbeck, hypothesize that there may be a "macho backlash" behind these killings: "Certainly male egos, of fathers and would-be boyfriends, must suffer some deflation from this dramatic change in the economic influence of these young women." [34] Whatever the cause, it seems that this phenomenon, which gained international attention in the 1990s, has not stopped and many scholars and activists are weary that without serious changes in social conditions, as well as government policy, the problem will remain prevalent.[29]

Africa

Femicide in Africa occurs in many different forms, including intimate partner femicide, mass femicide due to AIDS, honor killings and mass femicide due to female genital mutilations. The continent varies in cultural practices greatly and the manifestations of femicide differ greatly depending on the country. Some of the Northern African countries are predominantly Islamic in belief, such as Algeria. In Algeria, as well as other African Islamist countries, women are regulated to wearing head covering or hijabs, and to behave in specific ways that are considered appropriate for women, such as not working, not divorcing, not travelling without a male companion and more. Women in this country are experiencing a mass femicide based on how they are dressed. On one side men are killing women who do not wear the traditional hijab, and on the other side are the men who are against the Islamist government who are killing women who do wear the hijab in retaliation. In this sense, author Rod Kilbeck explains that women become a commodity in the fight between these two factions.[2]

AIDS

One of the biggest health problems in Africa is the epidemic of HIV/AIDS which affects 24.7 million people in Africa. Whenever AIDS results in the death of a female due to misogyny or sexist male behavior, it is considered a form of femicide according to Diana Russell's definition of femicide.[35] Some countries such as South Africa are especially hard hit, as 1/5 of their population is infected. AIDS also disproportionately affects women, and 55% of the infected population are women.[36] Feminists blame the spread of this epidemic on the patriarchal culture in Africa that socializes girls and women to yield sexual decision making to men. They list several reasons how and why men perpetrate the spread of AIDS.

  1. Males refuse to wear condoms
  2. Males fail to divulge non-monogamous behaviour
  3. Husbands demand their wives to have sex with them
  4. Males have sex with prostitutes without a condom

Consistently, men put their own sexual enjoyment before the safety and concerns of the female.[35] Another issue is the commonly held myth that an HIV-infected man "can cure himself of HIV if he has sex with a virgin." This belief continues the spread of HIV/AIDS to younger girls, who oftentimes choose to be with older men due to their increased wealth and resources.[37] South African men especially have one of the highest reported rates of rape in the world, and the increased prevalence of HIV/AIDS as well as high rape statistics combine to further spread the disease.[35]

Female genital mutilation

A cartoon centipede reads books and types on a laptop.
Female Genital Mutilation Worldwide.[38]

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is defined by the World Health Organization as "the removal of part or all of the external female genitalia and/or injury to the female genetic organs for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons." Female genital mutilation results in femicide when women and girls die due to unhygienic practices of FGM that result in infection or death as well as the increased likelihood of contracting HIV/AIDS because of FGM.[35] This practice is done in the interests of keeping females sexually "pure" and "clean" for males, a misogynistic value that makes death from FGM femicide. Currently, 101 million girls over the age of ten have undergone female genital mutilation in Africa. FGM is found to have absolutely no benefits for females, and is representative of patriarchal culture values.[39] The tendency of genital mutilations to bleed increases the chance of HIV entering the bloodstream of women during intercourse. Another issue is that oftentimes when FGM is performed it is done ritualistically to a group of children. Sometimes, the same knife or razor is used for the entire group, and this can spread HIV if one child has the infection. These unsanitary conditions also lead to infection by other diseases, which can cause the death of a female.[35]

Asia and South Asia

Rita Banerji, feminist author and founder of The 50 Million Missing Campaign to end female gendercide in India, has said that that while there are millions of women eliminated from India's population through sex selection abortions, there are also millions of girls and women killed after birth through various forms of femicides, that extend across various age groups. In a U.N. Symposium on Femicide in Vienna on November 26, 2012, she talked about the six most widespread forms of femicide in India.[40] These included female infanticide, the killing of girls under six years through starvation and violence, the killing of women due to forced abortions, honor killings, dowry murders, and witch lynchings.

Despite progressive legal reforms in many parts of the region, strong patriarchal values are maintained and help perpetuate the subordination of women.[41] “The high premium on women’s chastity and the subordination of women remains a key factor in the prevalence of gender-motivated killings of women in the region.” [41] For example, while the Penal Code of India now specifically prohibits dowry, the reported number of dowry-related deaths of women has almost doubled from 4,836 to 8, 383 over the past twenty years (1990-2009).[41] The code is also criticized for having a low impact on criminalization of perpetrators noted in the low conviction rate of ten per cent.[41] Suicide is the leading cause of death for Nepalese women in the reproductive age group, with causes ranging from domestic abuse, forced marriage, casting out of widows, and lack of property rights.[41] “In the region, honour killings, acid burning attacks, witch-hunting, foeticide, gender-based violence during caste and communal conflict were also discussed in the context of a lack of acceptance of girls in society and the absence of family support."[41]

Policy implications

Central America

Central American policymakers have experimented with the creation of "female friendly urban zones" over the past decade.[42] "Pink" public transportation networks have been established in Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador and Guatemala to provide women-only forms of public transportation in an effort to stem the sexual harassment and provide safety for women. These efforts have received substantial praise and criticism.[42]

Criticism from feminists and others often point to the efficacy of gender segregation in changing gender norms of oppression - specifically the Latin cultural conventions of "machismo" and "marianismo," which are powerful social regulators throughout the region.[42]

Ciudad mujer, the city for women

File:"Inauguration of Ciudad Mujer in El Salvador, March 2011.jpg".jpg
Opening of Ciudad Mujer in El Salvador, March 2011

In El Salvador, a recent endeavour has been made to create multiple government centers that house many gender-specific services in one place to cut down on commute time and increase the physical safety of women as they seek necessary services: counseling, child care, reproductive health.[42] "The first center hopes to provide accessto an estimated 162,000 women from the neighboring departments of La Libertad and Sonsonate. Supportedbyformer Chilean president and head of UN Women Michelle Bachelet, the initiative cost $3.2 million, withan additional $20 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank earmarked for the construction of new sites." [42]

Critics of this action point to the contradictory abortion laws in El Salvador that are some of the harshest in the world: abortion is completely illegal even in an effort to save the life a mother or to help a survivor of incest or rape. "Coupled with the judicial system’s weaknesses, violence is abetted by the same government that aims to protect and defend. High levels of impunity leave many crimes unresolved or unreported." [42]

Guatemala decree 22

Guatemala has championed the use of femicide as a concept by incorporating the term in its constitution. Law-makers in this country passed Decree 22 in 2008 that defined Laws Against Femicide and Other Forms of Violence Against Women. These laws include 28 articles about prosecutable types of violence against women. They also created the Office of the Presidential Commission Against Femicide, enforcing the concept in the government, as well as an anti-femicide unit of the National police. Some results of the laws have proved encouraging, allowing many women to now report violence perpetrated against them. In the first month of 2010, a total of 27,000 women reported violence against them to the state, a large increase in the number of reported crimes. The laws also have helped several people jail their assailants and has increased the severity of punishments for perpetrators. However, the actual enforcement of the new laws has been varied. Few offenders are ever actually convicted for the specific crime of femicide, and there are only three public prosecution offices in the entire country able to deal with the issue of femicide.[43] In fact, only 127 convictions in 2010 occurred for female violence even though 46,000 cases overall were registered. Also, from 2000-2008, 98 percent of all femicide cases have still remained in impunity. Some feminists argue that the culture in Guatemala is to blame. They cite that many male judges and other male government officials are sympathetic to the view that men's actions are justified because they remain within the private sphere of the home. Attorney Romeo Silverio Gonzalez argued for this viewpoint when he stated that the new laws of Decree 22 were unconstitutional. He said that the laws "violated the private matters of married life." Attorney General Claudia Paz countered his viewpoint ultimately defending the laws by justifying their existence because they protect women's rights. Overall, the legislation of these new laws has helped Guatemala improve the awareness of femicide and reporting of the crime, but enforcement and justice for femicide still has not been totally achieved.[44]

Notes and references

  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., vol. 5). (1989).Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Russell, Diana E.H. and Harmes, Roberta A, (Eds.), Femicide in Global Perspective New York: Teachers College Press, 2001, Ch. 2, p. 13-14
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  4. ^ a b Campbell, J., and C. W. Runyan. "Femicide: Guest Editors' Introduction." Homicide Studies 2.4 (1998): 347-52. Print.
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  7. ^ a b c WHO, Pan American Health Organization. Femocide: Understanding and Addressing Violence against Women. Publication no. WHO/RHR/12.38. N.p.: n.p., 2012. http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/violence/rhr12_38/en/index.html.
  8. ^ Corry, John. (1801) A Satirical Review of London at the Commencement of the Nineteenth Century. Edinburgh: T. Hurst, Paternoster-Row; Ogilvy and Son, Holborn; R. Ogle, Turnstile; and Ogle and Aikman
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  13. ^ a b c d Monckton, Smith Jane. Murder, Gender and the Media: Narratives of Dangerous Love. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Print.
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  15. ^ Nowak, Matthias. Femicide: A Global Problem. Geneva, Switzerland: Small Arms Survery, Feb. 2012. PDF. http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/H-Research_Notes/SAS-Research-Note-14.pdf
  16. ^ a b c Taylor, R. "Slain and Slandered: A Content Analysis of the Portrayal of Femicide in Crime News." Homicide Studies 13.1 (2009): 21-49. Web. 18 Mar. 2013 <http://hsx.sagepub.com.ezproxy.rice.edu/content/13/1/21.full.pdf+html>.
  17. ^ Wiesen, G., and Jenn Walker, ed. "What is Femicide?." wiseGEEK. Conjecture Corporation, n.d. Web. 1 Apr 2013. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-femicide.htm>.
  18. ^ Russell, Diana. "AIDS AS MASS FEMICIDE: FOCUS ON SOUTH AFRICA." Diana E. H. Russell, Ph.D.. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2013. <http://www.dianarussell.com/aids_as_mass_femicide.html>
  19. ^ "Hope Movement." Femicide. Web. 1 Apr 2013. <http://www.hopemovement.com/open-ur-eyes/16-femicide.html>.
  20. ^ Radford, Jill, and Diana E. H. Russell. Femicide: The Politics of Woman Killing. New York: Twayne, 1992. Print. 145
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  22. ^ Middleton, Lee. "'Corrective Rape': Fighting a South African Scourge." Time. Time, 8 Mar. 2011.
  23. ^ Shaw, A (7 April 2010). "US Reports Harassment and Rape of Gays in Zimbabwe". Salon. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
  24. ^ Caselli, I (10 February 2012). "'Corrective Rape,' Torture among Methods Used to 'cure' Homosexuality in Ecuador". Alaska Dispatch. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
  25. ^ Mieses, Alexa. "Gender Inequality and Corrective Rape of Women Who Have Sex with Women." GMHC Treatment Issues (2009): 1–3.
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  27. ^ a b Moracco, K. E., C. W. Runyan, and J. D. Butts. "Femicide in North Carolina, 1991-1993: A Statewide Study of Patterns and Precursors." Homicide Studies 2.4 (1998): 422-46. Print.
  28. ^ a b Frye, V., S. Galea, M. Tracy, A. Bucciarelli, S. Putnam, and S. Wilt. "The Role of Neighborhood Environment and Risk of Intimate Partner Femicide in a Large Urban Area." American Journal of Public Health 98.8 (2008): 1473-479. Print.
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See also

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