Femicide is the gender-motivated killing of women, often by intimate partners or due to systemic oppression. Legal approaches include defining femicide as a distinct criminal offense and strengthening state duties to prevent and punish such killings.
Law No. 14,857/2024 amended Law No. 11,340/2006 (Maria da Penha Law) to establish confidentiality of the victim’s name in cases involving crimes committed in the context of domestic and family violence against women. The measure strengthens protections for the victim’s privacy and dignity by ensuring that their identity remains confidential throughout judicial proceedings.
This law serves as the basis for the Colombian Criminal Code, it enumerates conducts that constitute crimes and their sanctions. The code sets forth several gender-related crimes. Article 104A criminalizes femicide, meaning the killing of women because they are female. Article 123 sanctions people who forcibly terminate a pregnancy. Article 187 prohibits forcing in-vitro treatments on women against their will. Article 229 regulates domestic violence offenses.
Law 5/2008, of April 24, 2008, on women’s right to the eradication of gender violence recognizes the right to recovery and comprehensive reparations for women and introduces the concept of gender violence prevention.
The Special Comprehensive Law for a Violence-Free Life for Women (Ley Especial Integral para una Vida Libre de Violencia) (“LEIV”) establishes a framework for prosecuting and preventing acts of violence against women, and for providing assistance and support for victims of gender-based violence.
Law No. 21,212/2020 amended the Chilean Criminal Code to broaden the definition of femicide and impose harsher penalties on perpetrators. Article 390 bis, introduced by the reform, establishes femicide as a distinct criminal offense tied to gender-based violence and extends its definition beyond intimate partner violence.
Law No. 21,565/2023 establishes a comprehensive protection and reparation regime for victims of femicide, femicide-related suicide, and their families. Its purpose is to ensure full support and access to justice for those affected by these crimes, through adequate psychological, social, and economic assistance. The law defines who qualifies as a victim and sets out the responsibilities of the State in providing necessary care and reparations.
The Law of 13 July 2023 creates a dedicated legal framework for the prevention and fight against femicide and gender-based killings. It defines femicide, the forms of violence that may precede such killings, and establishes the gender perspective as a guiding principle for all decisions and measures taken under the law. The law requires the publication of an annual report containing key femicide statistics as well as a biannual qualitative report on femicide and gender-based killings.
Appellant was convicted of murdering his girlfriend and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. Appellant appealed that the sentence was too harsh and severe and that it induced a sense of shock. Appellant presented mitigating factors that he was married with four minor children to support, the sole breadwinner, a first offender, and deserved to be given a second chance in life. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal after considering the interest of society, the seriousness of the offense, the fact that the crime was premeditated, and the fact that the killing was gruesome and brutal.
The appellant was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for the attempted murder of his spouse, and the conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal. On appeal, the appellant claimed that the lower court erred by (1) failing to consider the facts as exposed by the appellant, (2) failing to take into account that the wounds suffered by the victim were not deadly, (3) refusing to consider the “voluntary and timely abandonment of the act”, (4) failing to set out its reasoning in reaching its conclusions as to the events and the injuries suffered by the victim, and (5) imposing
The trial court convicted the accused of one count of murder and sentenced him to 17 years in prison, in addition to financial compensation the victim’s family. The circumstances of the case showed that the accused and the victim were consuming drugs by a local river when, for unrevealed reasons, he pushed her over the stairs which led to the river, at a height of approximately five meters. The victim ended up by the water with bruises on her face and a broken neck, which was stated as the cause of death.
