A natural and cultural history of femicide

Riv Psichiatr. 2026 May-Jun;61(3):96-102. doi: 10.1708/4714.47292.

ABSTRACT

This article offers an interdisciplinary analysis of femicide as a historical, anthropological, and structural phenomenon, arguing that it should not be understood as a contingent anomaly or an archaic residue, but as a recurrent form of violence rooted in the dynamics of human social organisation. The analysis distinguishes between proximate causes, which vary across time and space in relation to legal, economic, and cultural contexts, and underlying causes, characterised by a high degree of transhistorical and transcultural stability. Comparative data indicate that femicide occurs predominantly within intimate relationships, disproportionately affects young women and women of reproductive age, and is more frequent in contexts of socio-economic vulnerability. The article reconstructs the genealogy of the concept of “femicide,” from its first nineteenth-century lexical appearance to its theoretical reformulation beginning in the Seventies, and to the emergence, in the twenty-first century, of the notion of “feminicide.” The analysis integrates a historical-structural perspective with an anthropological-evolutionary approach, highlighting the role of predispositions related to sexuality, jealousy, and control. These predispositions are not treated as deterministic, but as strongly shaped by processes of socialisation. On this basis, the article argues for shifting a substantial part of prevention “upstream,” addressing not only femicide as an extreme event but also the more ordinary forms of domination and relational violence. It advances the hypothesis that systematic school-based anti-bullying prevention may constitute an effective long-term strategy for reducing gender-based violence, through education in scientific rationality, the recognition of cognitive biases, non-violent conflict management, and an understanding of institutional functioning.

PMID:42273899 | DOI:10.1708/4714.47292