Legal Definitions - femicide

Femicide refers to the killing of a woman. The term can also describe the individual who commits such an act.

Femicide refers to:

• The act of killing a woman or girl.
• An individual who commits the act of killing a woman or girl.

This term is often used to highlight killings that are gender-related, meaning the victim's gender plays a significant role in the motive or circumstances of the crime.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of femicide:

• Imagine a situation where a man, enraged by his partner's decision to end their relationship, stalks her and ultimately takes her life out of anger and a sense of possessiveness. This act would be classified as femicide because it involves the killing of a woman, often in a context of intimate partner violence where gender dynamics are central.

• Consider a case in a region experiencing high levels of violence against women, where a young woman is abducted and murdered by a group because she was perceived as defying local patriarchal norms. This tragic event would be an instance of femicide, highlighting a killing motivated by gender-based discrimination or control.

• In another scenario, a serial perpetrator specifically targets and murders multiple women, expressing a clear hatred or contempt for women in general. Each of these individual killings would be an act of femicide, as the victims are targeted precisely because of their gender.