FEMICIDE -- THE POWER OF A NAME

October 5, 2011

Sociologist Diana Russell has researched, authored, and edited numerous groundbreaking books, and organized actions for decades to end violence against women and girls as well as child sexual abuse. Here she argues that labeling the most extreme form of such violence is essential to combating it.[1 The first good-looking girl I see tonight is going to die. Edw rd !e"#er, seri l killer

$%blic w reness bo%t &iolence g inst wo"en h s incre sed dr " tic ll' o&er the l st fo%r dec des in the (nited )t tes, th nks to wo"en*s "%lti-f ceted cti&is". +owe&er, des#ite e,tensi&e "edi co&er ge on " le-#er#etr ted "%rders of wo"enincl%ding wh t ##e r to be incre sing n%"bers of seri l killers who t rget wo"en nd girlsfew #eo#le see" to register th t "ost of these "%rders re e,tre"e " nifest tions of " le do"in nce nd se,is". In contr st, " n' indi&id% ls recogni-e th t so"e of the "%rders of .fric n ."eric ns, / tinos, .si n ."eric ns, 0 ti&e ."eric ns, nd other #eo#le of color re r cist, th t so"e of the "%rders of 1ews re nti-)e"itic, nd th t so"e of the "%rders of lesbi ns nd g ' "en re ho"o#hobic. .s long go s 1234, I chose the new ter" femicide to refer to the killing of fe" les b' " les becausethe' re fe" le. I cited n%"ero%s e, "#les of these leth l for"s of " le &iolence g inst wo"en nd girls in "' testi"on' on fe"icide t the first Intern tion l Trib%n l on 5ri"es .g inst 6o"en th t took #l ce in 7elgi%" th t 'e r. I ho#ed th t

introd%cing this new conce#t wo%ld f cilit te #eo#le*s recognition of the "isog'nistic "oti& tion of s%ch cri"es. )ince then, I h &e eng ged in " n' different str tegies in the ho#e th t one or other of the" wo%ld ins#ire fe"inists in the (nited )t tes to do#t this ter" inste d of the gender-ne%tr l words "%rder or ho"icide. +owe&er, "ost ."eric n fe"inists, incl%ding those who h &e foc%sed their efforts on co"b ting &iolence g inst wo"en, contin%e to %se ter"ss%ch s do"estic ho"icidesth t obsc%re the "isog'nist f ctor in &irt% ll' ll these cri"es. .ltho%gh wo"en*s " le # rtners re b' f r the "ost fre8%ent #er#etr tors of fe"icides 9 bo%t :0 to 50 #ercent;, it is &it l to recogni-e th t fe"icides re lso #er#etr ted b' str ngers, c8% int nces, d tes, friends, colle g%es, <ohns, nd other f "il' "e"bers. Tho%s nds of "en who "%rder wo"en e&er' 'e r in this co%ntr' re "oti& ted b' "isog'n'. Indeed, the & st " <orit' of all "%rders of wo"en re fe"icides. In contr st, the rel ti&el' few wo"en who "%rder "en re %s% ll' "oti& ted b' self-defense. Th%s, the er dic tion of se,is"wh t fe"inists h &e been stri&ing for since o%r beginning wo%ld eli"in te this "ost #owerf%l "oti&e, nd few "en wo%ld "%rder wo"en. In contr st to the contin%ing f il%re of efforts to get (.). fe"inists to do#t the ter" fe"icide, theconce#t is now widel' %sed in " n' / tin ."eric n co%ntries. )o"eti"es referred to s feminicide in these co%ntries, fe"inists in =e,ico, >% te" l , 5ost ?ic , 7oli&i , 5hile, El ) l& dor, 7r -il, (r%g% ', $er%, 0ic r g% , nd +ond%r s h &e do#ted one or other of these ter"s. .nti-fe"icide org ni- tions h &e lso been for"ed, eight of which h &e so f r s%cceeded in getting their go&ern"ents to # ss l ws g inst fe"icide. 6h t cco%nts for the differences in the res#onses of (.). nd / tin ."eric n fe"inists to the ter" fe"icide nd the cti&is" th t it h s ins#iredis tot l "'ster' to "e. Of the few rese rchers who st%d' fe"icide in the (nited )t tes, te " led b' fe"inist 1 c8%el'n 5 "#bell re#orted the dishe rtening finding th t of ll the fe"icides #er#etr ted e ch 'e r, the #ercent ge of wh t the' c ll inti" te # rtner fe"icides 9co""itted b' h%sb nds, lo&ers, e,-h%sb nds or e,-lo&ers; incre sed fro" 5: to 32 #ercent between 1234 nd 1224.@2A Th t s# n of 'e rs incl%ded intense #eriods of fe"inist cti&it', s%ggesting th t wo"en*s growing inde#endence h s res%lted in so"e "en re cting with leth l &iolence. Beeling their #ower thre tened or ch llenged, these "en ##e r to feel entitled to %se wh te&er force is necess r' to " int in do"in nce o&er those the' consider their inferiors. = le s%#re" c' contin%es to render ll wo"en chronic ll' nd #rofo%ndl' %ns fe. In 5 "#bell*s words, ll wo"en re t risk of fe"icide. The fe r of being "%rdered b' " n is #rob bl' felt b' "ost wo"en t so"e ti"e in their li&es. Be"icides re fre8%entl' tri&i li-ed nd de#olitici-ed b' the cl i" th t the #er#etr tors re cr -'. In contr st, it is gener ll' cce#ted th t the l'nching of .fric n ."eric ns nd the tort%re nd "%rder of concentr tion c "# in" tes were #olitic l h te cri"es, the go ls of which were to #reser&e white do"in nce nd .r' nC0 -i s%#re" c', reg rdless of the #s'cho# tholog' of the #er#etr tors. In n' c se, being "ent ll' ill does not free "en fro" their "isog'n' or r cis". Be"icides re leth l h te cri"es. 6hile the Beder l + te 5ri"e / w incl%des cri"es "oti& ted b' ct% l or #ercei&ed gender, nd 2D st tes h &e st t%tes th t incl%de gender, the onl' gender-b sed h te "%rder 9fe"icide; th t I h &e loc ted w s ch rged b' the (.). 1%stice Ee# rt"ent in 2002. The #er#etr tor h d bo%nd, g gged, nd slit the thro ts of two lesbi ns while the' were c "#ing in 0 tion l $ rk. The' deser&ed to die bec %se the' were lesbi n whores, he s id, re&e ling th t his h te cri"e w s b sed on lesbi#hobi s well s "isog'n'. It*s cle r th t other str tegies re needed to co"b t fe"icides in this co%ntr'.

In the #ost-2C11 er , terroris" h s beco"e " <or #reocc%# tion of the (.). go&ern"ent. +owe&er, there is no recognition of the f ct th t wo"en h &e been li&ing with " le terroris"" nifesting in high " gnit%des of r #e, be tings, nd fe"icides, s well s thre ts of these ctsh nging o&er o%r he ds on d il' b sis for eons. (nlike &icti"s of n tion l terroris", &icti"s of " le terror re often bl "ed for their de ths while h &ing no w ' to identif' which "en re d nger to the". 6orse still, those who kill their wo%ld-be #er#etr tors in self-defense re fre8%entl' cc%sed of "%rder nd inc rcer ted for " n' 'e rs. Ees#ite the f ct th t "ost wo"en re lso in deni l bo%t this re lit', I " ho#ing th t incre sing n%"bers of (.). fe"inists will soon e"br ce the conce#t of fe"icide, nd org ni-e to co"b t it. .nd were "' ho#e not re li-ed, I " o#ti"istic th t the ter" femicide, nd the cti&is" it %s% ll' ins#ires, will e&ent% ll' s#re d fro" / tin ."eric to the (nited )t tes nd the rest of the world.

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I" geF 6o"enGs Terror Is 0ot H1%st =o&ieH i" ge b' the l te gr ffiti #hotogr #her, nd nti-fe"icide cti&ist 5hris Eo"ingo, of 7erkele', 5 liforni . rtist,

@2A1 c8%el'n 5. 5 "#bell et l., ?isk-f ctors for Be"icide in .b%si&e ?el tionshi#sF ?es%lts fro" =%ltisite 5 se 5ontrol )t%d', !merican "ournal of #ublic Health, 2I 9200I;F 10D2-1023.
*This article was originally published online by the Womens Media Center (WMC). The views expressed in this commentary are those o the author alone and do not represent WMC.

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