National and International Legislation and Standards for Preventing Femicide

The review of national legislation and international standards on preventing violence against women was undertaken by CSOs Gender Knowledge Hub, FemPlatz and Women’s Research Center for Education and Communication. It focuses on femicide, and serves as a basis for a capacity assessment report in preparation of the femicide review investigation procedures and guidelines. The document gives an insight into different notions related to femicide, including definitions and forms, risk factors and implementation of criminal law regulations in the cases of women killings. Statistics show that every year about 60,000 women in the world are violently killed. However, regardless of the huge social danger and the prevalence of femicide in recent years, it is not possible to statistically monitor and quantitatively/qualitatively analyze this negative social phenomenon in Serbia, due to the lack of public, official and available data, that should be published by state authorities and institutions responsible for treatment in cases of domestic violence and femicides. Also, in Serbia, femicide is not recognized before the law as a separate criminal act, which is highly recommended by the international treaties that regulate women's rights and gender equality. In Serbia, in the period from 2010-2017, at least 251 women were killed by their intimate partner and/or family members.