Femicides, committed mainly by ex-partners?
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(CNN) -
On January 1, three women were murdered in France, each allegedly at the hands of their partner or ex-partner, in what feminist activists described as an “intolerable” start to another year of violence.
France is just one of many countries that are grappling with what the United Nations has called a shadowy global pandemic of violence against women, exacerbated by covid-19 lockdowns that left women isolated at home with their abusers. , financial pressures for many and limited access to support increased.
Domestic violence incidents increased in the US during lockdowns by the pandemic, according to an analysis
People have been seen taking to the streets over the past year in protest at the brutal deaths of women, and in some cases their children, at the hands of their current or former partners.
The New Year's Day killings in France shocked many and sparked a new call for tougher action against those who commit violence against women and girls.
Speaking to CNN, Marylie Breuil, a spokeswoman for Nous Toutes, a French feminist group, said that while the killings were "shocking," activists in the country were sadly "not surprised" by the turn of events.
"The violence does not stop with the New Year," he said.
According to police, a 56-year-old woman was found dead with a knife to her chest in Labry, in the northeast of the country, after officers were called on reports of domestic disturbances on January 1.
A man has been placed under formal investigation for the crime of "partner murder".
These populations are vulnerable to domestic violence 2:51
In the second case, a 28-year-old military recruit was found stabbed to death near Saumur, in western France, according to the city prosecutor.
A 21-year-old military man was arrested in connection with his death;
Investigators suspect a possible murder by her partner.
Later, the body of a 45-year-old woman was found in the trunk of a car in Nice.
She had been strangled, according to Maud Marty, a deputy city attorney for the southern city.
Prosecutors have launched formal investigations for involuntary manslaughter and intentional homicide against her 60-year-old ex-husband.
Across Europe, cases of violence against women are generating growing outrage.
In Greece, where 17 femicides were recorded in 2021, according to public broadcaster ERT, the government was criticized for rejecting an opposition amendment that would have established institutional recognition of the term femicide.
In November, after a 48-year-old woman was stabbed 23 times by her husband in Thessaloniki, opposition leader Alexis Tsipras posted on Facebook: "There should be no political disputes when we experience the effects of gender-based violence on a daily basis." .
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In the UK, following the kidnapping and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard in March by a serving police officer and heavy-handed police repression at a memorial vigil, activists criticized what they say it is a culture of misogyny within the police.
Meanwhile, in comments broadcast in December, Pope Francis said that men who commit violence against women engage in something that is "almost satanic."
Police figures released in Italy in November showed that there were around 90 episodes of violence against women in the country every day and that 62% were cases of domestic violence.
Activist: Women must be heard
In France, after news of the first two deaths emerged on January 1, Nous Toutes asked French President Emmanuel Macron to act, tweeting that "starting this count over is unbearable."
The killings are "indicative of the current climate in France and the impunity of the attackers," Breuil said, highlighting the fact that one of the three women had reported her alleged assailant to the police.
Statistics from a report from the French Ministry of Justice in 2019 showed that 65% of murdered women contacted the police before their murder.
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"We realize that 65% of these women could have been saved if things had been handled correctly, if their complaints had been addressed, if we had listened to these women," Breuil stressed.
The French government was quick to condemn the January 1 killings, and Equality Minister Elisabeth Moreno tweeted that she lamented the violent deaths and felt sorry for the victims' children and other grieving family members.
The police, magistrates, health services and other agencies are "constantly mobilized" to fight "this calamity," he said.
Activists, however, are not impressed with the government's response to the tragedies.
"After the three femicides that occurred in 24 hours in France, the only thing that was done was for the Minister of Equality to go to discuss with the associations," said Breuil.
This is not the first time the French government has come under fire for its handling of domestic violence.
Since 2019, when widespread protests over violence against women broke out in France, the government announced a series of reforms.
These include more funds for emergency housing for those affected and specialized police to deal with complaints, as well as efforts to encourage the appointment of specialized courts and prosecutors to streamline processes.
Addressing journalists in October, Interior Minister Gerald Darminin stressed that addressing domestic violence "must be a priority" for law enforcement agencies.
However, Nous Toutes maintains that Macron and his government are "completely out of step with what is happening on French territory," according to Breuil.
"For us, Macron and the government are silent and that is shameful," he added.
In May, the country was shocked by the case of a 31-year-old woman, Chahinez Daoud, who, according to authorities, was shot and burned alive in the street by her ex-husband in Mérignac, near Bordeaux.
Police arrested the foreign husband, identified as Mounir B., shortly after the incident.
Bordeaux prosecutor Frédérique Porterie told reporters at the time that the man had seven prior convictions, including one count in 2020 for spousal violence in the presence of a minor.
Chahinez had filed a complaint for assault against him only two months before his death.
This week, five officers were sanctioned in connection with Daoud's murder, a spokesman for the director of the national police confirmed to CNN.
Breuil is critical of the French police, which she says "are not adequately trained at all" to handle such cases.
Forensic agents arrive at Chahinez Daoud's home on May 5, 2021 in Merignac, Bordeaux.
"The tip of the iceberg"
Daoud was one of 113 women killed in 2021 in France by their current or former partners, according to the French advocacy group Féminicides par compagnons ou ex (Femicides by partners or ex-partners).
That represents an apparent increase in 2020, when 102 women were killed by their partner or ex-partner, according to an Interior Ministry body linked to the French national police.
Another 146 women were killed by their current or former partner in 2019, and 121 women in 2018, the same body said.
Government figures for 2021 have yet to be released.
Femicide is broadly defined as the "intentional murder of women because they are women."
However, there are no global, standardized or consistently recorded data on femicide.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "most cases of feminicide are committed by the partner or ex-partner, and involve continuous abuse in the home, threats or intimidation, sexual violence or situations in which the woman has less power or fewer resources than your partner. "
French criminal law recognizes "partner murder", but does not distinguish between male and female victims.
Therefore, the term "femicide" is not used officially.
And although they see the value of the statistics, Nous Toutes argues that these figures are "only the visible part of the abuse that occurs between couples," according to Breuil.
"They are just the tip of the iceberg," he said, emphasizing that before any murder there is usually a whole series of abuses that the public is unaware of.
Counting the true cost of femicide
Meanwhile, on New Year's Day in Spain, a new system was introduced that the government says will make it the first country in Europe to officially count all femicides, including cases in which men kill children to hurt women. .
The number of women killed by gender violence in Spain in 2021 amounts to 43 to December 27, according to the Government Delegation for Gender Violence.
Since 2003, 1,125 women have been murdered by gender-based violence in the country.
‼ ️ We confirm the murder of a 25-year-old woman in the province of Alicante on December 25 for alleged #GenderViolence.
🔴 The number of women killed by gender violence in Spain rises to 43 in 2021 and 1,125 since 2003. # NosQueremosVivas # NiUnaMenos
- Delegation of the Govt.
Against Gender Violence (@DelGobVG) December 27, 2021
Spain has previously registered as gender violence any homicide of women in which there is evidence that they were or had been in a relationship with the perpetrator.
But from the beginning of this year, official statistics on gender-based violence will be expanded to include the murder of any woman or child in which gender is seen to have played a role.
The five categories range from murders of women linked to sexual violence, including trafficking and prostitution, to murders committed by men in the woman's family, as in so-called honor killings.
They also include "vicarious femicide", defined as the "murder of a woman or minors, by a man as an instrument to cause injury or harm to another woman.
Spain has been shaken by recent cases of violence against women and their children.
A three-year-old girl was killed in Madrid in late December in an alleged case of gender-based violence, the government said, one of seven children who lost their lives that way last year.
In June, demonstrations were held in cities across the country after a man was accused of killing his two daughters, Olivia, 6, and Anna, 1, and dumping their bodies into the sea in front of the Spanish island of Tenerife, Reuters reported.
"The defendant's plan was to cause her ex-partner the greatest pain that she could imagine, by deliberately causing uncertainty about the fate that Olivia and Anna had suffered at his hands," says a court document, to the news agency.
A woman participates in a protest against sexist violence and for women's rights, in front of the Congress of Deputies in Madrid, Spain, on May 18, 2021.
Equality Minister Irene Montero said the new system would mean that all "sexist murders of women, because they are women, would be counted."
"Naming femicides is justice, the most basic exercise of reparation for all victims of sexist violence," he said in a government press release.
In this way, Montero said, "we are making progress in making all forms of sexist violence visible in order to carry out the necessary public policies to eradicate them. What you do not name does not exist."
French activists support this movement and are pushing for a similar framework to be adopted in their country.
Nous Toutes wants feminicides of girls and women outside of the couple to also "be counted, so that we can show the extent of abuse against women in France," said Breuil.
French society is "prepared to see change" because it "understands that these abuses are not inevitable" and can be avoided, Breuil concluded.
CNN's Duarte Mendonca, Anaëlle Jonah, Chris Liakos and Camille Knight contributed to this report.
Femicides Violence against women Domestic violence