Criminal Justice Response: 

While a majority of States recognize femicide as aggravating circumstance in homicide cases (mostly in the context of intimate partner or family violence), the mapping indicated that six States have introduced a legal definition of femicide in their domestic law since 2022. Several OSCE States have recently amended criminal codes to specifically address femicide, using various approaches, including defining femicide as a distinct offence or considering it an aggravating circumstance in cases of domestic violence or gender-based killings. In addition to defining femicide, some countries have incorporated enhanced penalties for genderbased violence, especially in intimate partner violence, sexual exploitation and domestic violence contexts. Due to the relatively recent introduction, the success of implementation could not be assessed at the time of this report, but the changes provide an important legal basis for improving the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of femicides 

Data Collection on Femicide: 

Regular data collection on femicide or genderrelated killings of women is essential for effective policymaking, legislation and prevention strategies. The report notes two classification systems that have been developed on the international and regional level—the UNSD statistical framework and EIGE’s indicators. These frameworks endorse a statistical definition of the gender-related killing of women and girls and classify femicides into categories based on the relationship between victim and perpetrator. They allow for the collection of data on femicide regardless of whether a State had specific legislation of femicide. Overall findings of the report across all OSCE participating States show that the existing data is fragmented, relies heavily on crime statistics and is mostly focused on the context of intimate partner or family violence. Promising practices include the compilation of contextual data in femicide cases, data collection on dispensation of justice as well as disaggregation of data by different indicators. 

Review, Analysis and Reporting: 

The need for review and reporting on femicide has grown alongside the awareness of the importance of data collection. The report notes two primary types of review processes: femicide watch/observatories and domestic violence fatality reviews. While both processes focus on understanding and preventing gender-related killings, they differ in scope and methodology. Several OSCE participating States have established permanent femicide watches or specific observatories, often integrated into existing national institutions, while some maintain committees on homicides that also cover femicides. Involvement of independent monitoring mechanisms (e.g., NHRIs), multiagency approaches and annual reporting on femicides can be considered promising practices in this context, as they have resulted in legislative changes and increased attention to risk assessment procedures. Additionally, NGO initiatives independently play a significant role in the monitoring, collection and analysis of femicide data, thus contributing to the development of policies and public awareness.