Femicide is the killing of women based on gender
Civil society organisations urge the EU and CELAC to demonstrate political will to end femicides
[Press Release of the Heinrik-Böll Foundation Brussels, 6 March 2014] For the International Women’s Day, the Greens / EFA Group in the European Parliament with the support of civil society, ALOP, CIFCA, OIDHACO and GRUPO SUR and together with the HEINRICH-BÖLL-STIFTUNG European Union, organised a day dedicated to finding solutions to end femicide in Europe and in Latin America at the European Parliament in Brussels. It is the seventh conference of this kind, which has been organised jointly since 2006.
The bi-regional dialogue on gender between the Community of Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the European Union (EU - CELAC) has been welcomed by civil society, but it asked to go further and take concrete steps to eradicate femicide, such as the creation of indicators, defining evaluation mechanisms, and the inclusion of information and participation from civil society. Particularly, this dialogue must be founded on good practice in which states support the mechanisms and ratify the existing conventions in the area.
The respective organizations have complained that the serious situation of violence against women and girls, particularly femicide, continues to rise. They hope that the 58th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, to be held next week at the United Nations headquarters in New York, will be able to establish an international work plan that includes strategic actions to prevent, punish and eradicate all forms of violence against women at different levels of society: an holistic plan of action against femicide and violence against women.
Rashida Manjoo, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, reminded in the event the responsibility of States in the fight against femicide and explained that these crimes of extreme violence are sustained and perpetuated due to the existence of a culture of discrimination and hatred towards women. According to Manjoo, "these killings are committed regardless of race, religion or social status of women, which are a common problem for both regions."
Click here to have a look to the agenda of the day.
