A/HRC/20/16 A. Conceptual evolution of terms 20. The term femicide has been used since the beginning of the nineteenth century to describe the killings of women.7 It was proposed as an alternative to the gender-neutral term of homicide, a term which overlooks the realities of inequality, oppression and systematic violence against women. It reappeared in the 1970s as part of the struggle of the feminist movement to name their own experiences and create a form of resistance to this fatal form of violence.8 21. Femicide was first defined as ―the murders of women by men motivated by hatred, contempt, pleasure or a sense of ownership of women‖. 9 Subsequently, it was defined as ―the misogynist killing of women by men‖.10 The definition was expanded to go beyond that of misogynist killings, to all forms of sexist killings, including those killings by men motivated by the socially constructed right to do so, their superiority over females, pleasure or sadistic desires towards women, or the assumption of ownership over women.11 22. The term femicide has been used in the context of killings of women in the private and public spheres. In some European contexts, such killings are described as ―crimes of passion‖. In South Asia the term femicide has been adopted to encompass cultural practices in the region such as female infanticide, preadolescent mortality of girls and dowry-related deaths.12 The phenomena of so-called ―honour killings‖ in the Middle East are rarely specifically labelled as acts of femicide, but some scholars have highlighted the femicidal nature of such acts and the impunity that accompanies such killings. 13 23. A critical comparison, when addressing the killings of women, can be seen in the labelling in the West of femicides as ―crimes of passion‖ stemming from individual violent behaviour; and in the East, as ―crimes of honour‖ arising from cultural/religious practices and beliefs. This dichotomy exposes the simplistic, discriminatory and often stereotypical manner of construction, thereby obscuring the intersectionality of political, economic, social, cultural, and gender factors faced by all women around the world. 14 24. With the alarming escalation of extreme forms of violence against women and girls in the 1990s, including in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala,15 there was a pressing need to create and adopt new concepts and strategies to address the phenomenon. The disproportionate impact of economic, political and social factors in which the killings of women and girls were occurring, as well as the patriarchal nature of the societies that 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 6 See Corry, J. (1801) ―A Satirical view of London at the commencement of the nineteenth century”, Edinburgh: T. Hurst, Paternoster-Row; Ogilvy and Son, Holborn; R. Ogle, Turnstile; and Ogle and Aikman. Also MacNish, W. (1827) ―The confessions of an unexecuted femicide” (3a. ed.), Glasgow: M.R. M‘Phun, Trongate. And Wharton, J. and J. Smith (1987) ―The law lexicon, or, dictionary of jurisprudence” (English edition). Littleton, CO: F.B. Rothman. (Originally published in 1848). Kaye, J. (2007) ―Femicide‖, Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence, available at www.massviolence.org, accessed on 5 September 2011. Caputi, J. and D. Russell (1990) ―Femicide: Speaking the unspeakable”. Ms.: The World of Women, 1(2). Radford, J. and D. Russell (eds.) (1992) “Femicide: The Politics of Woman Killing”, New York: Twayne. Harmes, R. and D. Russell (eds.) (2001) ―Femicide in Global Perspective”, New York: Teachers College Press. Ibid. Kaye, J. (2007) ―Femicide‖, Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence, available at www.massviolence.org, accessed on 5 September 2011. Supra note 1. See in particular reports on the visits to Mexico (E/CN. 4/2006/61/Add.4), El Salvador (E/CN.4/2005/72/Add.2 and A/HRC/17/26/Add.2) and Guatemala (E/CN.4/2005/72/Add.3).