femicide

[fem-uh-sahyd]

noun

1. the act of killing a woman, as by a domestic partner or a member of a criminal enterprise.

   The rate of femicide where there is drug trafficking is far greater than it is elsewhere.

2. the deliberate, wanton violation and massacre of women and girls, as in a particular ethnic group by an invading army.

3. a person who kills a woman.

   In certain countries, femicides appear to act with impunity.

Word History and Origins

Origin of femicide¹

First recorded in 1820–30; feme + -i- + -cide

Example Sentences

One woman is killed by a man every 36 hours in the country, according to a femicide monitoring group in Argentina, cited by Agence France-Presse.

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The latest report by Femicide Census says, of 121 women killed by men in 2022, 12 were killed by their sons and 11 were killed by someone they did not know.

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Previous data from Femicide Census suggests far fewer women are killed by adopted sons than biological sons - three, as opposed to 172, over the period of the earlier study.

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"I want this to carry on and be a platform against violence for women and girls. It'll be used to help other organisations, femicide awareness and things like that."

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The state prosecutor's office said it is investigating the crime as a femicide, meaning that it believes the crime was motivated by the fact the victim was a woman.

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