Feminicide: Introduction

“Globally, the prevalence of different manifestations of gender-related killings is reaching alarming proportions. Culturally and socially embedded, these manifestations continue to be accepted, tolerated or justified—with impunity as the norm. States‘ responsibility to act with due diligence in the promotion and protection of women‘s rights is largely lacking as regards the killing of women” [1]. In all over the world, women’s rights activists are fighting against the intensification of violence against women and feminicide such as the rise of conservative forces that threaten the achievements of the feminist movements. 

Concentrating on various Latin-American and European countries, this dossier presents articles written by prominent feminists, human rights activists, academics and representatives from civil society in Latin American and the European Union. Thus it exposes and analyzes the situation of feminicide in different countries and the answers of the feminist movement as well as certain official initiatives as the recent joint call of the UN-Rapporteur on violence against women who seeks to establish of a “feminicide watch” in order to monitor, understand and improve public policies that are designed to eradicate violence against women. Further the dossier contains articles about the criminalization of abortion and its relation with reproductive rights, avoidable maternal deaths and clandestine abortions. 

 

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[1] Rashida Manjoo, former United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women until July 2015