Femicide laws worldwide: 50 years of evolution and ongoing gaps

Femicide—the intentional killing of a woman with a gender-related motivation—is the most brutal manifestation of gender-based violence. Unlike general homicide, femicide stems from unequal power relations, control, and deeply rooted misogyny. These killings often follow patterns of intimate partner abuse, threats, or coercive control.

In 2023, an estimated 51,100 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members, a figure likely underrepresenting the true scale of femicide globally. Yet in most legal systems, these murders are classified as generic homicides, erasing the gender-based motive and limiting targeted prevention efforts. This is why specific legal recognition of femicide is critical. Laws that name and criminalize femicide serve not only to sanction offenders more appropriately but also to improve prevention, awareness, and justice for victims and their families.

The threat of femicide is not only a justice crisis—it is also a profound economic and development issue. Even before a lethal act occurs, the fear of violence imposes life-altering constraints on women and girls. It affects their mobility, and both physical and mental health.

When femicide does occur, the consequences ripple outward: each woman killed is a lost member of society, a silenced agent of development, and often a primary caregiver whose absence destabilizes households. The intergenerational impacts are severe—children who lose their mothers to femicide suffer lasting trauma, impacting their education and overall well-being. These costs are borne not only by families, but also by health, education, and justice systems, and ultimately by the broader economy.
 

What do the data show?

Women, Business and the Law has collected historical data on femicide laws in 190 economies, the most comprehensive global dataset on femicide law adoption to date. It spans over five decades, from 1970 until 2023, allowing to track legal reforms and identify where urgent progress is needed.

The data show that only 29 economies around the world have enacted laws that address femicide. Among the 3.97 billion women living across 190 economies, only a small fraction—approximately 450 million—reside in countries where legal protections against femicide are in place. This translates to a global statistic where merely 11 out of every 100 women are legally safeguarded against femicide. 

The data reveal a long history of legal silence: from 1970 through the late 1990s, no economy recognized femicide in law. While the crime itself is centuries old, economies started to recognize the victim’s gender as an aggravating circumstance to the crime of murder in the late nineties, Spain being the first in 1996. Since then, progress has been halting and deeply uneven. Only a decade later, a handful of countries slowly started to more comprehensively typify and criminalize femicide, with clear definitions and penalties accounting for the gendered nature of the crime.

A particularly notable surge in laws addressing femicide occurred between 2012 and 2023. By that time, many economies had established comprehensive legal frameworks to address violence against women—most notably through domestic violence legislation, adopted in 104 economies. However, these measures may fall short of capturing the distinct legal, investigative, and policy implications of gender-motivated killings. Data on femicide legislation offer valuable insights for policymakers to design targeted interventions for specific crimes that require dedicated legal recognition and tailored responses.
 

Regional trends in femicide legislation

The vast majority of economies that have enacted femicide legislation are located in Latin America and the Caribbean—17 out of 29 globally. This momentum has been fueled by strong public advocacy and the influence of the Inter-American Convention of Belém do Pará. Not only does the region have the highest number of femicide laws, but it also features the most comprehensive legal provisions: clear definitions, tiered penalties, and sanctions that include both imprisonment and the loss of parental or inheritance rights.

In contrast, most OECD high-income economies—such as Belgium, France, Portugal, and Spain—do not explicitly criminalize femicide. Instead, they aggravate penalties for homicide when it is motivated by discrimination based on the victim’s sex or gender.

In Europe and Central Asia, as well as the Middle East and North Africa, progress has been uneven. Only a few countries—including Cyprus, Morocco, North Macedonia, and Türkiye—have recognized femicide as a separate offense or introduced harsher penalties for gender-motivated killings.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Gabon stands out. Its national law on violence against women imposes life imprisonment for various forms of femicide, including killings by a spouse or partner, or murders committed solely on the basis of the victim’s gender.

Notable legal approaches

Latin America has emerged as a global leader in advancing legal recognition of femicide, pioneering some of the most comprehensive and influential laws on the issue.

In 2012, Mexico became the first country to adopt a standalone federal law on femicide, building on legislation passed at the district level the previous year. The law introduced a clear legal definition, established severe penalties, and included protocols for implementation—along with sanctions for public officials who obstruct justice in femicide cases. Ecuador followed in 2014, incorporating femicide and aggravated femicide as distinct crimes under its newly adopted penal code. Peru first criminalized femicide in 2013 and has since amended its criminal code multiple times, most recently in 2020, to expand protections, introduce tiered sentencing, and apply additional consequences such as the loss of parental rights and the disqualification from holding public office.

Together, these laws have laid critical groundwork for defining, prosecuting, and preventing femicide, while also serving as legislative models for other countries pursuing similar reforms.

Drivers of reform: International conventions and real stories behind the laws

While no binding treaty explicitly uses the term femicide, several international and regional frameworks have played a key role in promoting its legal recognition.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the Convention of Belém do Pará has been the most influential, obligating states to prevent, punish, and eradicate violence against women. The convention has been widely interpreted—especially by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights—as encompassing gender-related killings, and it has directly influenced legal reforms in countries like Mexico, El Salvador, and Argentina.

At the global level, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), through General Recommendation 35, identifies lethal violence as a form of discrimination and urges states to strengthen laws on femicide and improve data collection. Additionally, UN resolutions and reports—including those by the General Assembly, the Commission on the Status of Women, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, and UN Women—have repeatedly called on states to explicitly recognize femicide in law, ensure accountability, and enhance enforcement.

Many femicide laws in Latin America were adopted only after public outrage over horrific murders. Below are three emblematic cases that galvanized legal reform, enforcement, and public action. Click on the images below to read their stories:

From momentum to mandate

Women, Business and the Law’s historical dataset shows that while the last ten years have seen a wave of reform, this momentum is mostly localized in Latin America and follows nearly five decades of legislative silence. For most of the past 50 years, femicide was not named in law—reflecting a broader global reluctance to acknowledge the gendered nature of lethal violence.

Without specific legal recognition, the gender-based motives behind femicide are often ignored—resulting in lighter sentences, gaps in data, and barriers to justice and policy design. By contrast, countries that legally recognize femicide are better positioned to complement existing legislative efforts against gender-based violence, prevent these crimes, collect meaningful data, prosecute offenders effectively, and respond with targeted social policies. They are also better equipped to confront the economic toll of femicide—protecting women’s contributions to development, reducing burdens on health and justice systems, and safeguarding the well-being of children and families.

Countries have been silent for too long. The time to act is now.