Against All Odds, Femicide Did Not Increase During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From Six Spanish-Speaking Countries

Abstract

This paper tests a situational hypothesis which postulates that the number of femicides should increase as an unintended consequence of the COVID-19-related lockdowns. The monthly data on femicides from 2017 to 2020 collected in six Spanish-speaking countries—Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Panama, Mexico, and Spain—and analyzed using threshold models indicate that the hypothesis must be rejected. The total number of femicides in 2020 was similar to that recorded during each of the three previous years, and femicides did not peak during the months of the strictest lockdowns. In fact, their monthly distribution in 2020 did not differ from the seasonal distribution of femicides in any former year. The discussion criticizes the current state of research on femicide and its inability to inspire effective criminal polices. It also proposes three lines of intervention. The latter are based on a holistic approach that places femicide in the context of crimes against persons, incorporates biology and neuroscience approaches, and expands the current cultural explanations of femicide.

Sex Workers’ Work-Related Victimisation and Drug Use During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Switzerland

“…the worldwide economy has been affected seriously, people's mental health has worsened, and their alcohol and drug consumption have increased (Cohut, 2021); further, crime declined in the streets (Nivette et al, 2021), but increased in cyberspace (Buil-Gil et al, 2021). However, other crimes, such as intimate partner violence, increased considerably during the lockdown (see Piquero et al, 2021), although intimate partner homicides did not follow the same trend and remained stable or even declined (Aebi et al, 2021;Asik & Nas Ozen, 2021;Hoehn-Velasco et al, 2021). As expected, criminologists have been studying and monitoring many crime trends during the pandemic, except those suffered by vulnerable and excluded groups, such as SW.…”

Femicide in Northern Ireland during the COVID‐19 lockdown: A model for differentiating male offender characteristics

“…The UK experienced an even greater surge of 66% (Refuge, 2020). But astonishingly, femicide rates in Latin American countries remained stable, with a similar rate to the previous 3 years (Aebi et al., 2021). The UK also reported a decrease in femicides during the first year of the 2020 lockdown, the lowest recorded since 2009 (Womensgrid, 2022).…”

Intimate Partner Violence, Femicide, and General Theories: Issues for Research and Policy From the View of Modern Control Theory

“…As they also point out, this definitional or typological diversity among data can affect data comparability in significant ways. Aebi et al (2021) to focus attention on homicide with female victims, to allow for cross-societal comparability. Absent mechanisms to permit conceptual consistency and comparable data, this stance is clearly appropriate.…”

“…In contemporary criminology, general theories like routine activity, opportunity, and lifestyle theories (Clarke, 2018;Cohen & Felson, 1979;Hindelang et al, 1978) have been actively researched as explanations for trends in crime and violence (e.g., M. Felson et al, 2020;Nivette, Ribeaud, et al, 2021;Peitzmeier et al, 2022) and, most recently, for understanding the effects of COVID lifestyle restrictions on IPV (Aebi et al, 2021;Piquero et al, 2021). In fact, studying crime and violence trends interrupted by the COVID responses has been said to present an especially good opportunity to use a quasi-experimental method to study the role of routine activities in the causation of victimization (M. Felson et al, 2020;Piquero et al, 2021).…”