The authors argue that femicide is largely related to family matters, as many cases involve relatives or intimate partners as perpetrators. Furthermore, it is discussed that femicide should be distinguished from other types of homicide. Femicide exists within a patriarchal society where women have been oppressed, calling for a gender-specific framework when analyzing femicide as a criminal phenomenon. Femicide rates vary across countries, meaning that the crime is diverse depending on the context of the sociocultural landscape where each case of femicide takes place. 

For example, in Arab countries the femicide cases involve victims who are significantly younger than those in Western countries. The perpetrators are most often the extended family members of the victims, whereas in the West it is most often the victim's intimate partner. In contrast, cases in Ghana have been most often older women, due to the beliefs of witchcraft accusations where victims are stoned and lynched. The article argues that femicide is much more complex than the majority of the research conducted thus far in the West.