QCOSTARICA — In a new development around gender-based violence, many countries are classifying the murder of women as femicide (femicidio in Spanish) – a specific term, now turned into law, that refers to the killing of women because of their gender.
Countries across the world have increased the pace and harshness of punishment for gender-based violence after the UN passed a resolution 68/191 in 2013 asking countries to make strict laws against gender-based violence against women and girls.
In fact, according to data from the UN, an average of five women or girls are killed every hour by their partners or family members. As a result, high-income countries passed femicide as a criminal code.
The first country to make femicide a distinct crime was Costa Rica in 2007. A reform to the Law on Penalization of Violence against Women, to establish expanded femicide, Law No. 10022, went into effect on August 23, 2021.
According to Costa Rica’s Codigo Penal (Penal Code), a partner who abuses and restricts movement and murders his wife is subjected to imprisonment of 25 to 30 years.
A total of 18 out of 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean which have the highest rate of hate killings of women and girls have also made femicide a criminal code.
Femicide is generally understood to involve the intentional murder of women because they are women, but broader definitions include any killings of women or girls.
There are a number of factors that contribute to the prevalence of femicide, including discrimination, the presence of a culture of violence, impunity, and poverty, among other factors.
2023 was one of the most violent years for all women residing in Costa Rica, recording 72 violent deaths of women, of which 13 were classified as femicides, ranging in age from 21 to 70, according to the Fiscalía Adjunta de Género (Deputy Gender Prosecutor’s Office) of the Poder Judicial.
For this year, 2024, the Poder Judicial confirmed 21 violent crimes against women have already, of which four are homicides – Emilce, Kimberly, Nadia and Lesly. Two cases have been officially classified, while the classification of the other two is pending.
Kimberly Araya, 33, was found dead near the Zurquí tunnel three weeks ago. The main suspect in this case is her husband.
On May 5, Lesly Calderón, of Nicaraguan nationality, was found dead.
Also this month, the case of Emilce Soto, 48 years old, was also known.
The most recent, which is under investigation, is the case of Nadia Peraza, who disappeared on February 20.
Femicide refers to the killing of women because of their gender. The term was first used by Irish writer John Corry in 1801 in the book A Satirical View of London at the Commencement of the Nineteenth Century. In the book, femicide was referred to as the killing of women and girls. The term was reused in the 1970s by Diana E.H. Russell who was an expert in studying violence against women and highlighted the magnitude of male violence and discrimination against women.
In textbook definition, femicide has always referred to the murder of women by their families or husbands. This means it excludes other types of violence against women like female genital mutilation, rape that doesn’t involve any romantic or familial connections, violence based on sexual orientation, murder of indigenous women and more.
However, Costa Rica has now expanded the definition of femicide by including violence that does not necessarily have a “romantic” connection. It defines femicide as violence against women based on trust, friendship, relationship, authority or power. Consequently, the violence against women has significantly decreased in Costa Rica compared to other countries like Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico.
