Femicide-certain controversial issues and comparative law review

During the last decades, the phenomenon of femicide has attracted the attention of both the scientific community and the wider public. However, despite the willingness to address the problem of gender-based violence, the number of murdered women is not decreasing. As a result, there is growing discussion on whether or not femicide ought to be treated like a distinct crime. Hence, the paper is devoted to general considerations about femicide and issues related to its narrower and broader definition, with the aim of answering the question of whether it is necessary to criminalize femicide as a specific type of murder. The authors have applied normative, logical and comparative legal methods, in order to point out the existing solutions in some European countries and certain controversial issues. By analysing literature and selected legal documents, they conclude that the criminalization of femicide by criminal or other laws is welcome and useful, despite the fact that the suppression of this phenomenon cannot be achieved by the isolated application of normative measures. On the contrary, the fight against femicide necessitates learning about gender-based violence, dispelling myths and prejudices that enable violence against women, and creating a robust network of support for victims and those close to them.