Femicide

Until recently I had no idea that a word called Femicide exists. A UK based campaign group recently coined this term to keep track of no of women killed by men. This is an extremely progressive idea and one that will go a long way in addressing male violence against women.  Nothing quite like the power of statistics to drive the point home.

So, let’s look at some stats.

1.         In Australia, 57 women were killed through male violence in 2014.
2.          In Britain, 126 women killed through male violence in 2012, 143 in 2013 and 150 in 2014.
3.          In the USA, 1/3^rd of female homicide victims were killed by intimate male partners.

In the US alone, 18,000 women were killed by men over a period of ten years (2003 – 2012). Femicide is the oldest genocide on earth.

The laws seem to have little impact on these perpetrators. The only way we can hope to reduce these numbers is by decreasing gender based violence. It is abuse and rape that lead to murder in most cases.  

So what motivates the perpetrator to abuse and kill? The popular theories include – jealousy, sexual passiveness, proof of masculinity, etc. But in most cases of homicide it is usually violence and abuse gone too far.

The only way to end this cycle, is for law enforcement authorities to sentence convicted perpetrators to life with no parole.

This comment from Violence Policy Center USA, Legislative Director, Kristen Rand sums it up for me,

“Since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act 20 years ago, the federal government and many states and communities have taken heroic steps to reduce domestic violence.Yet today, far more remains to be done to stop the epidemic of violence against women. The rate of women murdered by men in the United States is tragic and unacceptable.”