CPK launches the Observatory for Femicide. The wave of violence increased during the pandemic

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The Women’s Rights Center is launching the Femicide Observatory. The initiative’s slogan “Not One Woman Fewer, Not One More Death” alludes to the anti-homicide protests in Latin America. Importantly, this is also the most important message of the observatory, which will deal with, among others:

• diagnosing and monitoring cases related to women’s death;
• collecting data on homicides, suspected homicides or suicides and disappearances in a situation where there is a suspicion that a murder may have occurred;
• supporting families and people close to women;
• developing the model allowing for the coordination of activities related to the investigation of cases in which a woman died due to previously experienced violence.

The wave of violence increased during the pandemic

It is rarely said that in Poland several hundred women lose their lives each year in connection with domestic violence (according to CPK estimates, there may be as many as 400-500 of them). Unfortunately, this is still a taboo subject. Currently, there is a lack of reliable research and statistics and an effective program to counter the problem. And during the pandemic it got even bigger.

– The Femicide Observatory at the Women’s Rights Center is a socially important project that responds to the challenges posed by the increasing wave of violence against women during the pandemic –

“The implementation and application of risk assessment procedures is of key importance”

Femicide is the subject of a special issue of the CPK magazine “Law and Sex”.

No Polish government has so far carried out a coherent policy to counteract gender-based violence, and none have linked it with actions for gender equality in various spheres of life – including the family

– says Urszula Nowakowska, president of the Women’s Rights Center Foundation. He also adds that:

The key issue is the implementation and application of risk assessment procedures by aid institutions, as well as combating stereotypes in the practice of applying the law by law enforcement and judicial authorities in cases involving violence against women.