With more than 190 centers on five continents, a researcher-led group seeks to more accurately map a common problem: femicide. This is the mission of Data Against Femicide (DCF), a network also made up of activists, journalists and organizations that facilitates the collection of information closer to reality.
The data does not represent numbers, but rather people, the coordinators emphasize. “They honor the lives lost to violence and protect other women and girls,” says Helena Suarez Fall, one of the group’s founders, who is from Uruguay. The initiative does not cause accidents, but rather supports those who do it.
Latin America is the region with the largest number of centers, 107. “There is a long history of activism here. The United Nations adopted the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25) after Latina feminists chose this date to honor the Mirabal sisters, who were murdered by the dictatorship in the Dominican Republic,” says Suarez, who is also the coordinator of the Uruguay Femicide Data Project.
The forum emerged in 2019 through a consortium of Suarez and other researchers: fellow Uruguayan Silvana Fumiga, who was then director of research and policy at the Latin American Open Data Initiative (ELDA); And the American Catherine Dignazio, director of the Data + Feminism Lab and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In 2023, Brazilian Isadora Crocsin, professor of business, politics and development at Queen Mary University of London, will join the leadership.
Brazil has 21 related initiatives. Examples include the Cearense Feminist Forum, the Working Group on Femicide in Bahia, the Lupa Feminista (RS), the Néias – Londrina Femicide Observatory, and the Femicide Studies Laboratory of the Londrina State University (UEL).
“It is important to cooperate with groups from different Brazilian regions,” explains Isadora Croxen. “One of the issues in Ceará is the relationship between femicide and organized crime – something that does not happen throughout the country.”
“In terms of size, Brazil is close to the United States, which has no legislation on femicide,” the Brazilian points out. The United States of America does not have a specific definition in criminal law for this crime, which makes it difficult to monitor cases, as they usually end up being classified as murder.
According to an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (US Federal Police), 4,970 women were killed in 2021 in the country, a third of whom were killed by their partner.
The initiative has two fronts of action. The first is to strengthen the international community around data production, through courses, workshops and other actions. “We have over 2,000 people in the project newsletter,” Croxen says.
The second axis is developing technological tools to support clients who analyze police reports, studies and other documents, in order to collect numbers.
One example is the data highlighter, which helps highlight names, locations, or dates in text. In this way, the terms are recorded in the database. The software component works in Spanish, English and Portuguese.
Another tool is the alert system, which analyzes the news and, based on search terms and region, sends emails with the most relevant articles that may indicate cases of femicide. “In addition, we have a WhatsApp group with people and organizations using the tools in Brazil, through which we provide support and exchange guidance,” says the Brazilian researcher.
This set of analysis tools allows data to be compared with official statistics, which are sometimes smaller. “The disagreement is due to several factors,” Suarez says. “One of them is the difference in the definition of femicide, even though most Latin countries have this definition.” “The other is state negligence.”
While the Brazilian Penal Code, since 2015, considers femicide a heinous crime, consisting of the killing of a woman for reasons related to sex, in some countries there is no specific mention – the list includes Australia, Canada, Italy and Germany, among others. “We use the broader definition: murders of cisgender and transgender women and girls,” Suarez says.
In Brazil, the Laboratory for Studies of Femicide (Lesfem), a DCF collaborator, counted at least 1,706 femicides in 2023, about 16% more than those collected by the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP), which counted 1,463 incidents based on efforts to collect data from state security departments.
Lack of resources, police training, issues related to gender or political desire are part of the state’s neglect, Croxen says. “Part of the activists’ goal is to show that official statements do not reflect the entire phenomenon, or do not represent its complexity as structural violence.”
Statements against femicide (DCF)
Goals: Strengthening the international community and developing technological tools for data on femicide
Distance: 107 agents in Latin America (21 in Brazil), 29 in Europe, 18 in the USA and Canada, 12 in Africa, 10 in Asia, 3 in Oceania and 4 globally
Agent classification: 59 feminist or political groups, 55 NGOs, 36 centers for data journalism, 25 academic groups and 12 individuals
command: Catherine Dignazio, Helena Suarez Fall, Isadora Croxen, and Silvana Fumiga
Some Brazilian projects that support DCF: Feminist Forum Cearense (FCM), Working Group on Femicide in Bahia (GT FEM), Laboratory for Studies on Femicide (Lesfem), Néias – Londrina Observatory of Femicide and Lupa Feminista
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