Fatima E. has experienced so much violence that it is difficult to imagine. She fears that if she is recognized, she could be persecuted and even killed by her family, she tells the German public broadcaster ARD. That is why her name has been changed in the media publication.
Fatima's family is from the Middle East, they are all Muslims and have lived in Germany for a long time. "My mother often said: when a daughter sins, things are very simple in Germany: for murder they only get a few years, and in prison they feed them. And if it is because of the family honor, nothing happens to the man", says Fatima.
"Honor killings" constitute only a small proportion of femicide
Fatima escaped femicide - that's what the killing of a woman is called because she is a woman. Her case fits into the framework of "honor killing". But "honor killings" constitute a very small proportion of femicides in Germany, according to a new study by the University of Tübingen, which aims to provide an idea of the scale of this type of murder and the motives behind them.
More than 50,000 pages of documentation from five federal states were analyzed for this purpose. The data is from 2017, to ensure that criminal proceedings have been concluded in the meantime. And in order to save time and reduce costs, the study was carried out in only five federal states, ARD explains.
Femicides do not follow a certain pattern
Jörg Kinzig is a professor of criminology at the University of Tübingen and head of the project. His most important conclusion is that femicides do not follow a certain pattern, but are "extremely diverse". However, there is one connection that is particularly common: femicides related to a failed relationship. "When a man realizes that the relationship has completely failed, or when he believes, whether he is right or not, that the woman has cheated, then subjectively he no longer sees any other option than to react to this separation or alleged infidelity with murder."
But there are also completely different cases. For example, femicide related to age or illness, which often becomes a reason for the man's suicide. In such cases, there are rather no indications of an unhappy or even violent relationship.
The study distinguishes several types of femicide
In addition to femicide of current and former partners, Kinzig's team has also identified cases of femicide of a sexual nature without the presence of a partnership, as well as the murders of mothers and grandmothers. Often the perpetrator was mentally ill.
But what do these cases have in common? When is a femicide a femicide? The researchers analyzed 197 attempted murders or completed murders of women in more detail. Of these, the team classified 133, i.e. about two thirds, as femicide in the broader sense. For scientists, femicide implies that the murder was directed against a woman, that the perpetrator acted intentionally and that the act was gender-related.
This means that all types of murders that disproportionately affect women are considered femicide in this sense - for example, murders of prostitutes or in which the victim had a certain social role, such as a former partner or mother.
The study's authors also define a second, narrower term for femicide: when the act was committed with a sexist motive. "For example, when a man, due to a patriarchal sense of ownership, cannot bear the fact that his wife has left him", explains Kinzig.
According to this definition, there were 74 attempted or completed femicide - in five federal states, in just one year. According to Kinzig, this means that the murders of women in this country are still rare compared to other countries. But they only show the tip of the iceberg of violence against women, ARD explains.
The need for better prevention
How can we protect women? Criminologist Kinzig is not particularly convinced of the effectiveness of harsher punishments. For him, prevention is more important: to create enough places in women's shelters, including for the children of the victims. And also to work on the upbringing of boys. The head of the research team believes that the electronic bracelet, which was just approved by the federal government, is a step in the right direction, albeit a small one.
Affected women should be encouraged to break free from abusive relationships. This proposal is also supported by social educator Stefanie Zickinger, director of the Catholic Women's Shelter in Karlsruhe. But she also says that this requires easily accessible help: "This means that all of us in society are obliged to treat these women without prejudice. The topic of domestic violence is always accompanied by a lot of shame. And if we question what women say, they often no longer dare to seek help," she tells ARD.
The right of a partner to see their children is a danger for women
Fatima E., who has experienced violence not only from her parents, siblings, but also from her ex-partner, believes that the laws that allow ex-partners to see their children should be changed. Although he does not know the woman's exact whereabouts at the moment, her partner has de facto custody.
The new study on femicide confirms Fatima's fears: in nine of the cases examined, the perpetrator used the right to see their child to circumvent protection measures against violence and ultimately kill the woman.
There are many ways to prevent femicide. According to Kinzig, however, a kind of monitoring of these murders is also needed, i.e. more data is needed to make even more connections clear. This will help us to implement preventive measures more targeted, the expert also says in the ARD publication.
Author: Franziska Ehrenfeld (ARD)