Femicide

Femicide or feminicide is the intentional murder of women or girls in which they are exclusively targeted because of their gender or murder in which women or girls are disproportionately targeted. It is frequently committed as a method to control women and girls. Causes of femicide include jealousy, general hatred, revenge, male entitlement, harmful gender roles, gender stereotypes, cultural phenomenons such as so-called "honor killings" or female genital mutilation (particularly Type 3), as well as coercive control, stopping a pregnancy, social beliefs such as sati, and masculine hegemony that perpetuates the unequal power between men and women. A spouse or a partner is responsible for almost 40% of femicides, or homicides of a female victim. Additionally, femicide may be underreported due to insufficient evidence. Femicide often includes domestic violence and forced abortions. Some cultures use gender-selective infanticide and geronticide to perform femicide. Until recently, femicide was not considered a visible phenomenon, but awareness of it is gradually increasing.