The FEMICIDE team’s work is aimed at raising awareness about and promoting exchange on the topic of femicide, the killing of women because they are women, within the UN framework.
Since 2012 the FEMICIDE team, which is wholeheartedly dedicated to ending all forms of violence against women, has called for global action, to end the killing of women because they are women, shown what has been done and what has to be done to improve the safety of women in conflict and in flight, made people aware of the abuse and femicide of older women, tackled the issue of contemporary forms of enslavement of women and girls, attracted attention to state responsibility with regard to femicide, and urged the establishment of a Femicide Watch in every country.
Sadly, there are still many forms of violence against women and so many manifestations of femicide needing to be addressed.
Through by now 14 volumes of the FEMICIDE publication and numerous events on the topic concerned the FEMICIDE team has raised awareness about heinous unprosecuted crimes, which for many years have been silently witnessed by UN Member States, and will not end their work until violence against women and femicide has been eradicated. A long fight lies ahead of us; however, we are full of hope.
Seeing early volumes of FEMICIDE and the outcomes of our FEMICIDE events being used as important resources by delegates in negotiating and adopting the first resolution on gender-related killings by the General Assembly in 2013 confirmed the relevance of our work. A second resolution followed in 2015.
To serve this purpose, the FEMICIDE team uses the FEMICIDE publication series, the Femicide Watch Online Platform and the FEMICIDE events.
Recent Activities
Activities
: Femicide Vol. III: Targeting of Women in Conflict
We take great pride in sharing with you the third volume of our Femicide Publication which we have been releasing annually since the first Femicide symposium in November 2012. Each year, on the occasion of the International Day on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Vienna Liaison Office of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) has organized a symposium on a different theme related to the most extreme forms of violence.
: Femicide Vol. II: Istanbul Convention
On the International Day for the elimination of violence against women, ACUNS Vienna organised the second annual symposium. This year it was focused on forced marriage, violence against women and the Istanbul Convention. It brought together high-ranking diplomats, representatives from the UNFPA, UN women, UNICEF, OHCHR, and UNODC. The president of the Austrian Parliament addressed the meeting. The leading proponents of the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women, Ms. Feride Acar, Ambassador Dubravka Simonovic, Ms. Gisela Wurm, Ms. Liri Kopaci-Di Michele and Mr. José Mendes Bota made convincing arguments why such a detailed Convention was relevant and open to all countries. Meanwhile, the protocol for the investigation of Femicide was being finalised in Central America.
: Femicide Vol. I: A Global Issue that Demands Action
On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Vienna Liaison Office of ACUNS organized a one-day symposium on femicide in the United Nations (UN) Office in Vienna. Member State representatives, social scientists, NGO representatives, law enforcement officials, prosecutors and feminist activists had the opportunity to speak about femicide, explain its meaning and causes, and presented examples of best practice in fighting femicide.
