Femicide: disturbing figures, media stories and the need for gender-sensitive policy

• In Event: Gender, Crime and Justice Working Group Panel 3: Femicide

Abstract

The term femicide has recently been on the rise in the Netherlands. Media reports on murders of women increasingly refer to femicide to describe the phenomenon. In doing so, femicide is often associated with disturbing figures about the Netherlands in terms of numbers of female murders. Experts and politicians are now calling for the introduction of specific policies (including specific criminal law) on femicide. However, the term femicide is confusing and suggests a new phenomenon. The UN has introduced various indicators to determine femicide, such as the presence of a history of violence by the perpetrator. However, the UN indicators are still so open to discussion that even the UN itself recognizes that data collection on femicide are impossible. EIGE is following this perspective. This lack of clarity affects the data on femicide, which consequently seem to involve different types of violence and are misinterpreted by media. The first question is whether specific femicide policy makes sense without elaborating on the concept of femicide and a gendered motive. The second question is of the recent public discussion contribute to the aim of feminists making femicide visible.

Author

• Martina Althoff, University of Groningen