Did you know that some countries have had to make a specific law against Femicide?

Imagine this: A separate law from just 'murder'. <Thread>

Yesterday, November 25 was International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. #ViolenceAgainstWomen 1/

Femicide is not a widespread term among people, and many who have heard of it (even women), don't understand the difference between 'Femicide' and the general term of 'Murder'.

Murder is the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another. 2/

Femicide is not exclusive of other crimes against women. It is the result of symptomatic misogyny & machismo that runs rampant in many cultures. Despite the constant stream of political expression that Women are Equal to Men, we are far from this concept even in this country. 3/

Violence against women is rampant throughout the world despite efforts to prevent and bring focus to the issue. In the US alone, 55% of all murders to women are attributed to intimate partners vs 5-7% for men. 1 in 10 suffered Domestic Assault within a month prior. 4/

In the US, where we believe ourselves to be more 'civilized', Black women were most likely to die by homicide of any kind, at 4.4 deaths per 100,000 people, followed by Native American women, Hispanics, and finally whites and Asians. 5/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…

Around three women a day are murdered by an intimate partner, and in many cases, children and others are also killed. The majority of mass shootings, defined as four or more people fatally shot, not including the perpetrator, involve domestic violence. 6/

huffingtonpost.com/entry/most-mur…

European countries, for example, suffer a disproportionate rate of femicide that remains steady despite a decrease in overall homicides.

This article is excellent and describes Europe's situation with a lot of data on femicide. Its rather frightening. 7/

balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Euro…

This is a significant global issue. It was estimated in 2015 that roughly 181 women die every day from femicide. We must keep in mind that this statistic is probably far under the actual amount as femicide is often under-reported or covered up. 8/

global-politics.co.uk/2015/03/19/181…

Just as Domestic Violence is blamed on the woman (its your fault, you made me do this) and Sexual Assault (she asked for it), femicide is often also blamed on the victim in various ways. 9/

Femicide includes intimate partner femicide, lesbicide, racial femicide, serial femicide, mass femicide, honor killing related femicide, dowry and more. Any act of sexual terrorism that results in death is considered a femicide. 10/

This also includes forms of Covert Femicide as well, such as criminalization of abortion that leads to death from unsafe abortions. This massive subject in current debate around the world. 11/

Another Covert form of Femicide surrounds death as a result of female genital mutilation. This is not just a 3rd world problem. Since 1990, the estimated number of girls and women in the US who have undergone or are at risk of the practice has more than tripled. 12/

Serial Femicide is defined as "the sexually sadistic killing of women," also called "sexual terrorism" as many of these murders coincide with a desire for male domination and sexual gratification. 13/

Racist Femicide is racially motivated killing of women by men of a different race. This issue goes hand in hand with under reporting of violence in minorities and well as law enforcement response (or lack thereof) in these cases. Karabo shown here was killed and burned. 14/

Lesbicide, also known as homophobic femicide that may involve torture. While this is more prevalent in countries that have little or no rights for LGBTQ individuals, it still occurs in progressive thinking countries including 'Corrective Rape' tactics that can lead to suicide.15/

Honor Femicide is done in a 'justified' belief that the victim has brought shame/dishonor upon the family, violated the principles of a community and/or religion. These reasons can include: 16/

Refusing to enter an arranged marriage, being in a relationship that is disapproved by their family, having sex outside marriage, becoming the victim of rape, dressing in ways which are deemed inappropriate, engaging in non-heterosexual relations or renouncing a faith. 17/

Dowry Femicide is an example of what can happen when women are treated as property. Brides unable to pay the high "price" to marry are punished by violence and often death at the hands of their in-laws or their own husbands. 18/

These listed are some of the main causes for Femicide that are directed at the female gender. There is no mistake that some places have very high rates of femicide. South and Central America are prime examples. Survivors often pay a high price as Heydi of Honduras did. 19/

In Honduras, 95% of sexual violence goes without investigation. Guatemala is estimated at 98% of all victims of Femicide receive no legal action. El Salvador has 12-16 per 100,000 women killed yearly. In these countries, as well as others, women are considered disposable. 20/

In 2017 a Mexican art exhibit opened showcasing the Femicide issue. In one, down red corridor & sea of ropes, a maze of box files, shelves & folders can be taken down & read. The faces of 25 victims stare from the walls. Only one aggressor from the 25 cases faced justice. 21/

This excellent article covers the exhibit and the heart wrenching truth of what the women of Mexico suffer and shines an unspoken light on this all to often ignored issue. 22/

northernlauren.com/femicide-in-me…

Femicide is not an issue that should be swept aside. During a time when we have important movements such as #MeToo and the tragedy of the SCOTUS decision ignoring the case of #ChristineBlaseyFord and spurring the #whyididntreport Hashtag; 23/

We cannot forget that Femicide is still a very real and rampant Global Issue.

It is important that as individuals we pay attention to the violence and the patriarchal culture worldwide that continues to see women as property or 'less than'. 24 <End>

#stopviolenceagainstwomen