Call it by its name

You have probably heard this too many times, but words do have an actual power. By naming things we give them substance, we define them according to their importance, and the meaning they’re commonly given. 

There is one word in particular that has been very present in my mind these days, maybe because I read a lot about it or maybe because it’s still considered to be useless or even discriminative.  This word is femicide.

Femicide is the murder of  woman, for being a woman, most of the time, for being a woman that doesn’t  completely fit to the gender roles designed  by her society, culture or tradition. At other times even the most “obedient” women are victims of an extreme desire of control that leads to the extreme act of killing. Yes, we all know killing is an extreme act but in this case, it is the top of the iceberg, it’s the most dangerous form of gender violence, practiced day after day by husbands, fathers, brothers, lovers, strangers and institutions. In many countries most of the society is part of this process, where violence against women is considered illegal but in a way legitimate.

In the laws of some countries, women are inferior to men. In Iran for instance, the value of a woman’s testimony is worth half of a man’s; in Italy in 127 women in were killed by men in 2012; in South Africa, an intimate partner kills a woman in every six hours; in Guatemala, two women in average are being murdered everyday; in the US a person is sexually assaulted in every two minute. In addition, statistics show that for  women between 15 and 44, acts of violence are the first cause of death. And there is more! Every country has it’s statistics, huge numbers of women abused, raped and killed.
Everywhere on earth there is a war going on against women. “Violence doesn't have a race, a class, a religion, or a nationality, but it does have a gender” claims Rebecca Solnit, an American writer.

On the contrary to what happens with many other wars, only few people are talking about this one. Every woman has the same right to life and to psychological and physical wellbeing. Every person, man or woman, should start to respecting these rights, everywhere in the world.

And here I come again with the power of words: only if we call it by name, femicide, it will be actually visible, counted and explained. Without the statistics no institution will take action to stop it and the voices of the women fighting for their rights will be left unheard. 

Only if we keep on talking about femicide and violence against women - with their own rightful names -the civil society and their governments will grow awareness and one day they will take a real stand against it whether it will be in a legal, political, social or attitudinal way.

So call it by its name!

Giulia Ross

Activist from Amnesty International Italy