Gender-based killings of women or girls increased by an alarming 10 per cent in the space of two years, a new study has found, reports The Mirror.
Cases referred to the Office of the State Pathologist relating to women rose from one in five homicides (19 per cent) between 2012 and 2020 to three in 10 (29 per cent) from 2021 to 2023.
The research team examined the 97 gender-based killings of women or girls referred for formal forensic postmortem examination from 2012 to 2023 – and found 96 died at the hands of a male perpetrator.
Over half, or 56 per cent, were killed by a partner or ex while 20 per cent were killed by family members, with 13 of the women killed by a son, reports The Mirror.
In only two years, the number of gender-based homicides of women and girls rose by a startling 10%, according to a new research.
From 2012 to 2020, one in five homicides (19%) involving women were sent to the Office of the State Pathologist; however, from 2021 to 2023, three out of ten (29%) involved women.
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The study team discovered that 96 of the 97 gender-based homicides of women or girls that were sent for a full forensic postmortem analysis between 2012 and 2023 were caused by a male offender, reports The Mirror.
Twenty percent were slain by family members, with 13 of the women being killed by a son, and over half, or 56%, were killed by a partner or ex.
According to a research conducted by the Office of the State Pathologist, 41% of women who were killed did so in the same house with their perpetrator.
According to the researchers, femicide is a “poorly defined and under-recorded worldwide medico-legal issue” that is becoming “increasingly prevalent,” reports The Mirror.
Overall, the analysis found that, over the course of the 12-year period from 2012 to 2023, femicide accounted for approximately one-fifth (19%) of all homicides sent to the State Pathologist’s office, or eight per year on average.
With 13 cases reported, the pandemic year 2022 had the most femicides, while 2016 had the fewest with just two incidents.
Merely 9% of femicides took place in open spaces, outdoors.
“These findings reinforce the unfortunate reality that home is not always a place of refuge for women and girls,” said the authors, reports The Mirror.
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