Colombia confronts femicide, the 'most extreme form of violence against women'
Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:16am EDT
Colombia confronts femicide, the 'most extreme form of violence against women'
By Anastasia Moloney
BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Colombia's new law on femicide is a key step to combat violence against women, but forensic experts and prosecutors will need to change the way they investigate gender-related killings to win convictions, officials said.
In this Latin American country of 47 million people where on average one woman is killed every two days, the issue of femicide - defined as the killing of a woman by a man because of her gender - is under the spotlight.
The law, which came into effect July 6, makes femicide a distinct and legally defined crime, with jail sentences of 20 to 41 years.
The challenge now is enforcement of the law and ensuring that police, prosecutors and forensic experts are trained to identify and investigate cases of femicide.
More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/20/us-colombia-women-murder-idUSKCN0QP0CM20150820?rpc=401
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