Femicide

Femicide or feminicide is the intentional murder of women or girls because of their gender. In domestic fields, 50% percent of all femicides are committed by male intimate partners, or by male family members of the woman or girl. Causes of femicide include harmful gender roles, gender stereotypes, religious beliefs such as so-called "honor killings", social beliefs such as sati, and masculine hegemony that perpetuates the unequal power between men and women.

A spouse or 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. In China, femicide occurs as sex-selective abortions, while other cultures use gender-selective infanticide and geronticide to perform femicide.

Until recently, femicide was not considered as a visible phenomenon, but awareness is gradually increasing.