Investigation: Exploring the Factors Leading to Female Homicides - Investigation: Causes Behind Female Homicides
In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), a comprehensive study conducted by the State Criminal Office has shed light on the alarming issue of femicides, offering insight into the underlying factors and proposing potential preventive measures.
Key Findings
The study reveals that the majority of femicides are committed by intimate partners or former partners, highlighting the role of domestic violence. There is often a history of escalating violence or threats prior to the killings, indicating missed opportunities for intervention.
Other significant risk factors include previous threats or attempts on the victim’s life, separation or divorce proceedings frequently triggering the fatal violence, and perpetrators often exhibiting controlling or possessive behaviour towards the victim.
Jealousy, feelings of entitlement, and loss of control contribute significantly, while lack of social support or isolation of the victim makes escape or seeking help difficult.
In some cases, failings in protection systems have allowed perpetrators to remain a threat, underscoring the need for improved risk assessment and protection measures.
Suggested Countermeasures
To combat this issue, the study recommends several countermeasures. These include implementing better screening for signs of escalating violence and lethality in domestic abuse cases, creating more accessible avenues for victims to receive help and counselling before violence escalates, and ensuring that restraining orders are effectively monitored and enforced.
Cross-agency cooperation between police, social services, legal entities, and shelters is also crucial, as is providing specialized training for law enforcement and professionals in identifying and responding to domestic violence risks.
Expanding support systems including emergency housing, psychological assistance, and legal aid is essential, while public awareness campaigns can promote recognition of signs of domestic violence and encourage societal condemnation of gender-based violence.
Further Insights
Techniques such as electronic ankle monitors for monitoring relevant offenders could additionally protect victims, according to the LKA report. Every day, a woman becomes a victim of femicide, as summarised by NRW Minister for Equality Josefine Paul (Greens).
Between 2014 and 2023, a total of 1,666 attempted and completed homicide offenses against women were recorded in NRW, resulting in the deaths of 908 women. There are currently 70 women's shelters, 62 general women's counseling centers, and 57 specialized counseling centers against sexualized violence in NRW, as stated by the state government.
In most cases, the acts of femicide are committed by current or former partners (87%). The largest foreign group of suspects in femicide cases came from Turkey (81), followed by Poland (45), Romania (36), and Syria (35).
Femicides are often the result of long-term violence, control, and deeply ingrained power fantasies, as stated by NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul. Femicide perpetrators carry firearms more frequently than other suspects.
Moving Forward
The study underscores the critical need for preventive strategies focusing on early detection, comprehensive support for victims, and robust enforcement of protective measures to reduce femicide rates in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Experts recommend gender-equitable education to prevent rigid gender roles from taking hold, with the family, kindergarten, and schools playing a central role. NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) condemns a "medieval view of women" and emphasizes the need to strengthen and make protection structures more accessible.
Women are killed because they are women, according to NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU). In 99% of attempted and completed femicides, the suspects are male. Femicide is not a standalone criminal offense or a legally defined term in Germany, but the LKA used the definitions of the Council of Europe, the Istanbul Convention, and the United Nations as the basis for its evaluation.
The LKA defined femicide as attempted or completed when the perpetrator kills or attempts to kill a girl or woman based on gender-specific motives and/or gender-specific expectations and assumptions.
- The study in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) highlights the predominant role of domestic violence in femicides, with intimate partners or former partners usually being the perpetrators.
- History of escalating violence or threats, previous attempts on the victim's life, separation or divorce proceedings, and controlling or possessive behavior are significant risk factors in femicides.
- To combat this issue, experts suggest implementing better screening for signs of escalating violence, creating more accessible avenues for victims, and cross-agency cooperation as countermeasures.
- Femicides are often the result of long-term violence, control, and deeply ingrained power fantasies, making gender-equitable education essential to prevent rigid gender roles.
