Femminicidio, giustizia, vulnerabilità e public policies

Femicide is a key global indicator of progress towards gender equality. The occurrence of some but not all five gender dimensions in the indicators of violence used to measure progress towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 5, 11 and 16 are analysed as resulting from the tension between divergent feminist strategies that focus either on women-only or on mainstreaming intersecting inequalities. The tension between universalist and particularist projects underlies the contestations over the construction of these gendered indicators. The analysis develops a conceptualisation of indicators as assets in order to capture the social relations of power involved (rather than as boundary objects), supported by platforms (which can be public as well as corporate) and generated by dynamic epistemic systems (rather than stable epistemological infrastructures).

DOI: 10.1177/00113921221084357

Individuals experiencing homelessness—an extreme form of social exclusion—have considerably higher risk of being victims of violence than the general population. We analyze the episodes of violence suffered by 504 individuals experiencing homelessness in Spain, as well as the differences between men and women. The results indicate high levels of violence and suggest that gender (specifically, being a woman) is the primary factor driving exposure to violence among this group. Highlighting the reality of women experiencing homelessness can help social, mental health, and addiction services adjust responses to better address the needs of this group and offer comprehensive care.

DOI: 10.1177/10778012211022780

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34213398/

Exploiting high-frequency data from the Italian anti-violence helpline, police reports of domestic abuse and maltreatments, and a unique geolocalized dataset on killings of women, we show that the news coverage of a femicide triggers an increase in help-seeking behavior. The effect is detectable in the period following the news and in the province where the femicide has occurred. Additionally, help-seeking increases more when the general interest and news coverage are higher. These findings are consistent with a model in which femicide news increase expectations about future intimate partner violence in case no action is taken.
[Paper in press - available preprint]

• Intimate partner violence and help-seeking: The role of femicide news

  [ .pdf 1437Kb ]

  Preprint of the paper written by Marco Colagrossi, Claudio Deiana, Davide Dragone, Andrea Geraci, Ludovica Giua, and Elisa Iori

Abstract
This study of femicide involving elderly women, or female geronticide, aims to fill a gap in the research literature. The article is divided into three parts: a review of the literature on femicide, geronticide, and specifically female geronticide; a review of the literature utilizing Israel as a case-study and an empirical report on the findings of the first longitudinal study on female geronticide in Israel, which demonstrates that over a period of 10 years (2006–2015) female geronticide was perpetrated solely by intimate male partners. Findings of the study also show post hoc that while femicide is perpetrated in disproportionate numbers by, and towards, members of particular ethnic categories, such as Ethiopian immigrants and foreign migrants, there were no cases of female geronticide in these two groups. The likelihood of an elderly woman being murdered by her intimate partner or family member was higher among the following groups in the following order: immigrants from the former Soviet Union; Israeli-born Jews and; Israeli Arabs. The findings are important for policy- makers in Israel but have applications globally.

DOI: 10.1080/09589236.2020.1809361

Per analizzare il discorso giudiziario, sono state prese in considerazione le sentenze di ultimo grado reperite nel database raccolto dal Ministero della Giustizia per il periodo 2010-2016. Inizialmente costituito da 502 sentenze di I e II grado richieste dal Ministero in quanto “femminicidio” circa casi di violenza estrema contro vittime femminili, ai fini di questa analisi sono state prima isolate 467 sentenze su casi di omicidio consumato e poi selezionate le 370 sentenze di ultimo grado per ogni caso (per taluni casi potevano esserci sentenze di grado diverso).
L'analisi offre tre piani di approfondimento: a) l'individuazione e codifica di categorie quantificabili (come ad esempio i motivi rilevabili, le relazioni autore-vittima, dati anagrafici ove presenti, gli attori e le professioni eventualmente mobilitati nel resoconto delle sentenze, tipo di pena comminata, ecc.); b) l'analisi tematica di una selezione ragionata di alcune sentenze con specifico riferimento alle modalità discorsive utilizzate per narrare i moventi rilevati come attinenti alla “sfera sentimentale”; c) il contributo qualitativo derivante dalle rappresentazioni emerse da interviste aperte a testimoni privilegiati esponenti di diverse professionalità coinvolte.
Il macro obiettivo è verificare il modo in cui nelle varie narrazioni ci si confronti, a vario titolo e con diversa ricaduta pratico-sociale, con stereotipi sociali di genere più o meno solidi nel momento in cui le procedure normative di un’arena portatrice di conseguenze rilevanti per il cittadino si mostrino permeabili a strutturazioni simboliche tacite, oppure a segnali di cambiamento circa la definizione sociale della violenza estrema sulle donne: in gioco, di nuovo, è la dimensione emotivo-sentimentale a cui essa viene rinviata, in modo talora esplicito, talaltra tacito [nella versione ebook il capitolo è disponibile nei Darvwin Books del Mulino all'indirizzo https://www.darwinbooks.it/doi/10.978.8815/366320/_4_2054]

Résumé
Toutes les statistiques balayant le XIXe siècle en France convergent : le dimorphisme sexuel en matière de crime est incontestable. Entre 1811 et 1914, en Haute-Garonne, les femmes représentent seulement 16 % des individus qui ont fait l’objet d’une instruction. Cette différenciation sexuée n’est pas que quantitative. Hommes et femmes ne comparaissent pas nécessairement pour les mêmes crimes. Les statistiques, réalisées à partir des arrêts de la cour d’assises de la Haute-Garonne, semblent corroborer une criminalité spécifique en fonction du sexe de l’accusé. Mais, la construction des données chiffrées est à contextualiser. Et la dimension genrée de la criminalité est à étudier. Nous proposerons des pistes de réflexion.

Abstract
All the statistics concerning nineteenth-century France converge : sexual dimorphism in crime matters is unquestionable. In the Haute-Garonne, women represented only 16 % of individuals who were under investigation between 1811 and 1914.
This gendered differentiation is not only quantitative but qualitative as well : men and women did not commit the same crimes. The statistics gathered from the Haute-Garonne Court of Assize seems to corroborate the existence of specific crimes according to the sex of the defendant. But the data must be analyzed further in context. And the gendered character of crimes is to be studied. A new line of approach to the subject will be offered.

Abstract
Homicide in an important source of premature mortality, with intimate partners committing approximately one in seven homicides. Utilizing national statistics, this article explores recent data on intimate partner homicide in 10 European countries, namely Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK. It discusses policy developments and the role of key policy-making actors and it provides a novel classification, based on the time when government action developed, that maps the 10 countries in a temporal sequence under three main headings: early birds, intermediate and newcomers. Notwithstanding great differences, the articles finds common trends in policy developments. Intistutional commitment in collecting intimate partner homicide data is consistent with an enduring record of both women’s activism and public action in addressing intimate partner violence.