Jealousy, passion and many more "excuses" have caused 8 feminicides in Greece in just 8 months. 1 woman each month becomes the victim and the abuser in a relationship with a fatal end of no return. Is this a new scourge that is affecting our country and the world? No! In essence, femicide is a crime based on deeply interjaculated social perceptions and gender stereotypes, according to which women are inferior, vassals to male power, and can potentially be "punished", "controlled" and "penalized" through gender-based violence.

The term feminicide goes way back in modern history, when in 1976 it was recorded as a term by sociologist Diana Russell, thus defining this forensic and anthropological phenomenon. The term "feminicide" became widely known and was adopted by criminology after 1992, thanks to the book titled "Femicide: the politics of woman killing", a collection of essays co-edited by criminologist Jill Radford and sociologist Diana Russell.

Feminicide is a distinct offense that was previously and for many years concealed behind crimes of "honor", and in recent history behind the term "crimes of passion". The characterization of murder, therefore, as feminicide is an act of resistance to the concealment of a social reality and exposes the complicity of our sexist societies.

According to the World Health Organization "feminicide is the manslaughter of women with intent because they are women. Feminicide is usually committed by men but sometimes women, usually members of the same family, also cooperate.

In most cases, however, femicide is committed by a partner or former partner who usually had long-term abusive behavior, threatened, abused and / or intimidated the woman, who very often finds herself in a position of physical and / or financial weakness in relation to him, according to relevant research on the subject.

Gender-based violence and stereotypes draw up a criminal cover-up where every time it is reported on television and other media it provokes strong reactions. So as long as we keep digging deeper there will be no turning back, hence more and more women will become victims of domestic violence.

But let's also look at some statistics on global society and the incidents of feminine women as reported by the BBC and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime after continuous investigations into the matter since 2018.

On average, 137 women around the world are murdered every day by their partner or a relative. According to the above sources, "the house is the most likely place to commit a crime against a woman." More than half of the 87,000 women murdered in 2017 allegedly fell dead at the hands of their closest people. Of these, nearly 30,000 were killed by their partner and another 20,000 by a relative.

Reports note that more than 8 of the 10 victims of homicides committed by their partners were women. "Violence by a partner continues to pay a disproportionately heavy price against women". United Nations statistics summarize the findings for 2017 based on homicide information provided by government sources. The BBC network's correspondents in various parts of the world even counted that the media reported the murders of 47 women, apparently for reasons related to their gender, in 21 different countries. Most of these murders are still being investigated.

Let's pause for a moment our busy lives and think about this: Is education the basic tool for learning and understanding the term violence and feminicide through which we will break down gender stereotypes and perceptions that have been working overtime against women?

Until Next Time #nothinker let's do the thinking all together, lets allow ourselves not to step back this time but get involved in stopping violence against women by talking openly about incidents that happen to us or to those around us. Let’s at least learn to leave behind individual problems and become one in the face of a society that still considers women to be a weakest sex. Let us learn to support each other so that we become more, stronger, and always united.

Women Supporting Women should be our motto to help other and our society.

Useful information and calling lines for help:

The SOS line for the abuse of women is 15900 and is ON calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

The line of hope for providing emergency support and first aid to victims of domestic violence is 801 11 16000

For immediate incident reporting you can always call on 100 the Greek Police

Be aware. Be Safe

Xoxo
Elena V.