Femi(ni)cide: A Cartography

Abstract

<p>As the feminist concept of femi(ni)cide (a term that incorporates both "femicide" and "feminicide"), which applies to certain killings of women, gains purchase as a concept—and potentially a legal category—in the global North, certain questions arise: What does the concept refer to? Are femicide and feminicide the same? Is the phenomenon a problem mainly in the global South, or is it present in the global North as well? This article offers a cartography, informed by new feminist materialism and epistemologies of the South, that maps the emergence and uses of the concept of femi(ni)cide. It explores the concept's genesis in the United States and the United Kingdom, its development in Latin America and the Caribbean, and its emerging recognition in Europe as well as its fraught transition into a legal category. Analyzing the conceptual differences that the terms "femicide" and "feminicide" have taken on, the article offers ways to bridge these divergences, and it stresses the importance of the dynamic relationship between the theoretical, political, legal, and activist spheres. Above all, it argues that North-South power dynamics are still prevalent in the discussions on femi(ni)cide. It aims to contribute to the current debates by enabling informed and noncolonizing conversations.</p>