Feminicide: A Global Phenomenon

Violence against women (VAW) and femicide/feminicide are issues of great concern in Latin America as much as in Europe. Proof of this can be seen in the incorporation of chapter 7 into the EU-CELAC Action Plans 2013-2015 and 2015-2017 by the EU-CELAC, which dedicates specifically on guaranteeing gender equality and protection, relevance and promotion of women’s rights and, as one of their main component, the eradication of all kind of violence affecting them.

However, despite what is established in the Action Plans only few initiatives regarding the combat against VAW have been implemented. In this context, it is necessary to introduce legislative measures or adequate norms to ensure that the approach towards VAW is not limited to the violence in the spheres of the couple, former couple or family, as well as to implement the recommendations by the CEDAW Committee for Latin America and Europe such as the education and specialization of prosecutors, polices and judges and other public agents related to cases of VAW to ensure the strict application of the law.

This fifth edition of ‘Feminicide: A global phenomenon’ covers the situation of feminicide in different countries and the recent call by the UN Rapporteur on violence against women for the creation of ‘feminicide observatories’. Further, it contains articles about the absolute criminalization of abortion and its relationship with reproductive rights, maternal deaths and clandestine abortions.