"Femicide" -- The Power of a Name

[redqueen]

http://www.womensmediacenter.com/feature/entry/femicidethe-power-of-a-name


"Femicide"—The Power of a Name

By Diana E.H. Russell | October 5, 2011

Public awareness about violence against women has increased dramatically over the last four decades in the United States,thanks to women's multi-faceted activism. However, despite extensive media coverage on male-perpetrated murders of women—including what appear to be increasing numbers of serial killers who target women and girls—few people seem to register that most of these murders are extreme manifestations of male dominance and sexism. In contrast, many individuals recognize that some of the murders of African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and other people of color are racist, that some of the murders of Jews are anti-Semitic, and that some of the murders of lesbians and gay men are homophobic.

As long ago as 1976, I chose the new term femicide to refer to the killing of females by males because they are female. I cited numerous examples of these lethal forms of male violence against women and girls in my testimony on femicide at the first International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women that took place in Belgium that year. I hoped that introducing this new concept would facilitate people's recognition of the misogynistic motivation of such crimes.

Since then, I have engaged in many different strategies in the hope that one or other of them would inspire feminists in the United States to adopt this term instead of the gender-neutral words murder or homicide. However, most American feminists, including those who have focused their efforts on combating violence against women, continue to use terms—such as domestic homicides—that obscure the misogynist factor in virtually all these crimes.

Although women's male partners are by far the most frequent perpetrators of femicides (about 40 to 50 percent), it is vital to recognize that femicides are also perpetrated by strangers, acquaintances, dates, friends, colleagues, johns, and other family members. Thousands of men who murder women every year in this country are motivated by misogyny. Indeed, the vast majority of all murders of women are femicides.

More at link.

[zazen]

1. K&R n/t

[seabeyond]

2. Reducing rape with an eraser

U.S. News and World Report (April 24, 2000) said, ''facing political heat to cut crime in the city, investigators in the New York PPD's Sex Crime Unit sat on (thousands of) reports of rapes and other sexual assaults.''

One officer snarled; ''The way crime was solved was with an eraser.''

In 2000 even the FBI admitted that one district ''failed to report between 13,000 and 37,000 major crimes.''

''A 2000 Philadelphia Inquirer report found from 1997-1999, of 300,000 sex crime reports, thousands of rapes got relabeled ''investigation of persons'' or ''investigation, protection, and medical examination'' – non-crime codes.''

''This puts one in four rapes in a non-crime category.''

Lying sure reduces rape!

Other real men confirm additional cover-ups.

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, U.S. Army (Ret.) a renowned expert in human aggression and the roots of violence and violent crime, and a West Point psychology professor says:

''The downturn in violent crime in the U.S. in the 1990s is very deceptive. Violent crime … is still about 5 times greater today, per capita, than it was in 1957.''

''Plus, a five-fold increase in per capita incarceration is holding down violent crime – we'd have to let 1.5 million convicted offenders go to get down to a 1970's-level incarceration rate.''

On Grossman's point, The National Institute of Justice Managing Adult Sex Offenders (1997) reported:

''The number of adults convicted annually of rape, child molestation, or other forms of sexual assault and sentenced to state prisons more than doubled between 1980 (8,000) and 1992 (19,100). In 1994, state prisons held 88,100 sex offenders compared to 20,500 in 1980.''

Noting the millions taking high-powered antidepressants like Prozac, Grossman observes, ''we medicate, incarcerate and police ourselves at rates never seen before.''

Yet, he says, the biggest factor for lower crime rates is that ''we are lying about the data.''

''The ''Crimestat'' program made cops accountable for bringing down crime ... When the NYPD police union went over the data the crime rates doubled in New York City if the proper classifications were applied.''

Other than murder (held down by medical technology), the pressure on the cop on the beat means ''police artificially 'bring crime down' and the root causes of the crime get off scott free, because we cook the books.''

Denver Police Lt. James D. Ponzi, a Regis University professor and author of ''Compstat Revealed,'' is quoted in ''The American Police Beat,'' May 2005:

''In 1998, Sharon Schieber was raped and murdered.'' The lawsuit her parents filed ''revealed the practice of downgrading sexual crimes. Compstat turned into ''Compscam'' as departments cooked the books to lower crime rates.''

http://www.whale.to/a/reisman5.html
_____________________________________________

and it goes on.....

often when we talk about rape on du, a small number of men consistently tell women we need to stfu because FBI have the figures of raped reduced to such a low number. and many people recite this in the media. no one discusses the real issues. when i present this, it is readily ignored by those men and they continue to tell women they have no gripe because the fbi shows rape has decreased.

in the fbi report they state that really, the numbers can be from 30%-70% low. that they really have no idea.

this does not help the issue. it allows a lot of people to dismiss the problems for women.

[redqueen]

3. She seems puzzled as to why feminists in the US don't attack the issue of violence against women

with the same vigor that other advocacy groups tackle the issues they face... why we make little to no attempt to address these hate crimes as the hate crimes they are.

I think, given the immense struggle it is to even have hateful language toward women addressed sincerely and thoughtfully, that there really is no mystery there.

[iverglas]

4. the Criminal Code of Canada

addresses "hate crimes" by making that element an "aggravating circumstance" for sentencing purposes.

718.2 A court that imposes a sentence shall also take into consideration the following principles:

(a) a sentence should be increased or reduced to account for any relevant aggravating or mitigating circumstances relating to the offence or the offender, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing,

(i) evidence that the offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or any other similar factor,

(ii) evidence that the offender, in committing the offence, abused the offender’s spouse or common-law partner,

(ii.1) evidence that the offender, in committing the offence, abused a person under the age of eighteen years,

(iii) evidence that the offender, in committing the offence, abused a position of trust or authority in relation to the victim,

(iv) evidence that the offence was committed for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a criminal organization, or

(v) evidence that the offence was a terrorism offence

shall be deemed to be aggravating circumstances;

I don't know of whether/when the "sex" aspect has been expressly applied in sentencing. I doubt that it has, much.

Note item (ii) as well, where the fact that an offence involved spousal abuse is also an aggravating factor.

And interesting case on this point:

http://www.owjn.org/owjn_new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=203&Itemid=67

In the early morning hours of April 17, 1995, on the outskirts of Regina, Saskatchewan, Pamela Jean George was beaten to death by two young white men. One of the two men convicted of killing her recently received full parole on November 10, 2000. Once more, this case triggers outrage in Aboriginal and women's communities, as it remains an example of the failure of the Canadian criminal justice system's capacity to address crime based in racism and misogyny.

... However, in December 1996, Kummerfield and Ternowetsky were convicted by jury of manslaughter, rather than murder, and sentenced to 6 and a half years each by Justice Ted Malone, with a delay placed on their ability to obtain parole as an extraordinary sanction. Justice Malone instructed the jury to remember that George was "indeed a prostitute" when considering whether she consented to a sexual assault. His comments lead a coalition of Saskatchewan women's groups, including NAC, to file a complaint to the Canadian Judicial Council. Vigils were held for George across Canada in at least nine cities.

... It is certainly arguable that if the aggravating factors of racism and misogyny were considered, the requisite intent to cause bodily harm likely to cause death may have been proven on the charge of murder, or in the alternative, the sanction imposed for George's manslaughter would have been more substantial.

Due to a lot of publicity about a significant number of cases like this (including the terrible serial murders of prostitutes, many of them Aboriginal, in Vancouver around that same time
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pickton
that came to light only much later, arguably because of racist/misogynist attitudes in the police and society), results like this are less likely these days.

[redqueen]

5. Well it's a good thing it's at least explicitly spelled out in the law.

Whether or not anyone actually bothers to attempt to apply those laws is of course another story altogether. As we see in our quaint obscenity laws, which apparently are of no use whatsoever in curbing the production of pornographic videos which feature violent abuse for men to jack off to. (Cause you know, the teenagers and young women who signed waivers before being sexually humiliated and abused consented to it, so it's ok!)