Five essential facts to know about femicide

Gender-related killings and other forms of violence against women and girls are not inevitable. They can and must be prevented through primary prevention initiatives focused on transforming harmful social norms and engaging whole communities and societies to create zero tolerance for violence against women. Early intervention and risk assessment, access to survivor-centered support and protection as well as gender-responsive policing and justice services are key to ending gender-related killings of women and girls. 

One innovative practice with the potential to enhance necessary reforms are in-depth multi-stakeholder reviews of gender-related killings of women and girls. These often involve families and social networks of victims, with the aim of improving institutional responses and preventing future killings. 

In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Family Violence Death Review Committee conducted in-depth reviews of family violence-related killings to better understand the context, help-seeking behavior, and agency responses. The Committee recorded 320 family violence deaths between 2009 and 2020, of which 178 (56 percent) were women and girls. The Committee’s findings showed that the most vulnerable—Māori, women, children and people with disabilities—are often unfairly assigned responsibility for their circumstances from the way they are portrayed in case records, their interactions with case workers, or the inadequate responsiveness of agencies. To address these issues, the committee recommended agencies should adjust their approach to draw from the methods used by Kaupapa Māori organizations. This more respectful approach focuses on well-being and involves training of service providers, shifting the focus to the entire family to break the silence of violence and shifting the status quo and norms of institutions so that initiatives are responsive to the needs of families.

More research is required to better understand what is driving increased femicide in certain contexts, and what factors have enabled decreases in others to better inform prevention strategies. 

Women’s rights organizations play a crucial role in preventing violence against women and girls, driving policy change, holding governments to account, and providing critical survivor-centered services. Strengthening financial support to women’s rights organizations is critical in reducing and preventing gender related killings and all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls.