STOP FEMICIDE SAVE WOMEN Nowadays, in light of development of society and protecting human rights, there is no doubt in value

e of human life, we can proudly say that inviolability of human life is one of the greatest achievements of mankind. Our consciousness is also advanced in terms of gender equality, this matter is even included in UNs Millennium Development Goals. Despite all of this we are facing a problem of femicide , a phenomenon which exists a long period of time, but now is finally recognized. We are all familiar with the term homicide, the word femicide, although less known, is making its way to the developed worlds vocabulary. First used in early 19 thcentury in England to describe the killing of a female, it is currently and commonly used in developing countries. When it comes to defining, femicide is the killing woman, because she is a woman. The term was first introduced to United States by Dr. Diana E.H. Russell in 1976. Femicide is used as a specific form of gendercide which refers to any killing that targets a specific gender. These crimes are systematic and female victims are often murdered in very brutal way. For a case to be considered femicide there must be an implied intention to carry out the crime and a demonstrated connection between the crime and the gender of the victim. Even though femicide identifies any female, young or old, who fall victim to a crime solely based on her gender, this relation between crime and gender is very hard to prove and it is main reason why many offenders never have been brought to trial, let alone convicted. Vienna Declaration on Femicide distinguish different forms of this crime, recognizing inter alia: 1) the murder of women as a result of intimate partner violence; 2) the torture and misogynist slaying of women; 3) killing women and girls in the name of honour ; 4) targeted killing of women and girls in the context of armed conflict ; 5) dowry-related ; 6) killing because of their sexual orientation and gender identity ; 7) the killing of aboriginal and indigenous women and girls because of their gender ; 8) female infanticide and gender-based sex selection foeticide; 9) accusation of witchcraft and 11) other femicides connected with gangs, organized criminal, drug dealers, human trafficking and proliferation of small arms. Findings of many researches were that the home, which is supposed to be a safe haven, has now become the most dangerous place for many women and girls. Reports show that in European Union 70 % of femicides result from intimate partner violence, also 1out of 4 women have experienced partner violence and 7 women every day die as a result of domestic violence. To avoid misconceptions, person who commit femicides

are often men, but women can also be the offenders. This can be case when mothers kill their baby girls or intentionally abort, which is common all over Asia.

Unfortunately, this problem became global, and it cant go unnoticed anymore. Femicide occur every day in every country in the world, furthermore, women who are being murdered come from all kinds of culture and social backgrounds. So we should not be mistaken that this happens only in certain countries, but from time to time in one particular state happens to be a case that bring attention on this topic, role of media very often is crucial. For example, Guatemala has become notorious for its increasing amount of crimes against women, as well as the lack of action of local police toward solving crimes that involve female victims putting the country in direct violation of one of the basic human rights. Impunity being the largest obstacle toward justice resulted with a several very brutal murders, even in public, including firearms. Pictures of this tragedy were broadcasted all around the world but, still, in Guatemala, those who are frequently attacked by spouses, boyfriends, or male family members are often seen as nobodys by local police and their cases remain unsolved for years, even decades. Recently, famicide that happened in India shocked the world, innocent girl was beaten, raped, and because of injuries she died after 2 weeks. She wasnt seen as a victim in eye of her local community nor law. Even more disturbing is fact that she was considered immoral and blamed for what had happened to her. This unfair behavior to the victim led to mass demonstrations, which will hopefully encourage some changes. Just couple days ago, another case happened in a Pretoria, South Africa, paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is a suspect for the murder of his girlfriend, for now trial is ongoing. Unfortunately, there is no need to go far away to find examples of this crime, in our own country this happens too often. Just in last month we had 3 new victims. It is pretty obvious that names and the cities change, but the stories are very similar. When it comes to finding solutions for this global issue, drawing attention and applying best practice examples is of the utmost importance and should be the first step ,like creating specialized team of experts in UK who would work together on solving crimes and wouldnt be limited to police officers, lawyers, psychologist and forensic scientists. International cooperation between states is necessary. The lack of legal recognition of femicide and insufficient investigation in many countries are letting femicide to stay so called invisible crime. Successful awareness raising campaigns should help prevention and encourage women to complain and report a human rights violation. One

cannot deny that work of civil and NGO organizations, academics, feminists, international organizations, besides prosecutors and judges, is indispensable and can help to end femicide. All of this leads to conclusion that femicide is not a cultural problem of one region, it is present everywhere it traverses history and geography. Traditions and culture, including religion is private thing and matter of choice of any individual, so they should be respected, but cannot be used as justification for the violation of womens human right, in particular right to live, because there is nothing above life. That is why women should not continue to walk in shame while perpetrators walk free.