Podcast on Crimes Against Women

Femicide: Understanding the playbook of men who kill women

Conference on Crimes Against Women Season 3 Episode 18

Femicide, the intentional killing of a woman because she is a woman, is a pervasive and brutal form of male violence against women that persists worldwide. Together with femicide researcher Dawn Wilcox, we explore the dynamics of femicide through the lens of Women Count USA, a femicide accountability project she developed that chronicles victims of femicide in the United States from 1950 onward. According to Wilcox, “male violence against women and girls is a preventable public health crisis. Femicide, domestic violence and sexual assault are intolerable violations of the basic worth, dignity and human rights of women and girls in the United States and the world.” The comprehensive database of femicide victims that is Women Count USA is intended to not only provide data about femicide but also uplift its victims and give each of them a name. Dawn Wilcox is a registered nurse with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Texas Woman’s University and 27 years of service in the nursing profession. Her dedication to women who are victims of violence has been a decades-long journey since having survived her own experiences of abuse and gender-based violence.