Review article
https://doi.org/10.54070/hljk.31.2.2
Femicide: From a Neologism to a Separate Criminal Offence
Nevena Aljinović
orcid.org/0000-0001-6557-2796
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The introduction of the criminal offence of femicide, as the most extreme form of the culmination of gender-based violence against women, has caused more controversy and polarized attitudes than almost any other criminal offence to date. This strong word with political connotations raises more than a theoretical discussion about feminism because it strives to recognise and define the gender-based killing of women. Although opponents claim that the incorporation of the “symbolic concept” of femicide as an independent criminal offence has no substantive benefit at a practical level because it (only) nominally separates the already existing modality of committing the crime of aggravated murder with the same prescribed penalty, femicide contains a gender component and raises awareness of the existence of gender discrimination and violence against women. It is precisely in this indispensable determinant of femicide, especially its inherent gender component and the presence of violence against women as its immanent relevance, that the essential distinction of femicide from the crime of aggravated murder lies. Criminal law, as a living mechanism and social lifeblood, must keep pace with contemporary social conditions and, with its normative metamorphosis, serve contemporary social needs. In the context of the above, the positioning of femicide as a criminal offence is an important step towards the removal of the historically embedded “unequal power relations” between men and women, which is the only way to achieve an egalitarian society. The paper aims to analyse the discussions that preceded and the solutions that were adopted in certain European countries to raise awareness of the phenomenon of femicide and remove the veil of its “invisibility”, either by positioning it alongside crimes against life and body or by standardising it with a special law. The analysis is based on the teleological interpretation of legal provisions and the normative study of comparative legislation, including the theoretical considerations related to this topic.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
328341
URI
Publication date:
4.12.2024.
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