Femicide: The notion, theories, and challenges for research

Since the 1990’s, the notion of femicide has disseminated in civil society, the media, policy making, and scientific literature and has helped movements to draw attention to violence against women. The notion was coined to reveal the sexual politics of the murder of women and call militants to action. Today, it is increasingly used with the meaning of killing a woman because she is a woman, emphasizing gender and misogyny as the main motives. Femicide as well as the consequences of its application in diverse research areas are explored from a historical, legal, international, and activist point of view. The political thrust of the notion has proven to be useful in raising awareness on the emergency of the problem. However, the notion becomes unclear when it is used as a heuristic tool because (a) there is more than one interpretation about which types of homicide should be included and which fall beyond the definition of femicide and (b) the gender identity of the victim is not the only or the central motive of the homicide—both caveats pose problems to quantitative data collection and comparison. Available literature on homicide, family, and intimate partner violence offers a complex picture on why men kill women: explanations include diverse and interrelated factors pertaining to individual characteristics of perpetrators and victim, their relational history, and the influence of sociocultural environment, including a culture of male superiority and control. In addition, scientific literature has suggested that the importance of gender equality variables as a predicting factor for intimate partner violence should not be taken for granted, but it should be tested at the empirical level. Accurate options are suggested that yield robust and comparable empirical data for the advancement of knowledge and prevention.