ABSTRACT
The term “femicide” does not appear in the legal framework of any Anglophone CARICOM member state although they are party to the Belém do Pará Convention. However, a significant proportion of women murdered in both intimate and non-intimate circumstances could be classified as a femicide. These cases are prosecuted under existing gender-neutral homicide laws. In the case of Jamaica and St. Lucia, a sexual offence is identified as an aggravating circumstance and the perpetrator is convicted of murder, in the furtherance of a sexual offence, with a penalty of life imprisonment.
The use of the term ”femicide” to describe ‘the murder of women because she is a woman’ is only now beginning to be part of the lexicon of the human rights discourse in the Caribbean. Existing homicide legislation is inadequate for addressing the specific and unique aspects of femicide crimes. In an effort to address this legislative gap, Model Legislation has been developed by the MECEVI of the OAS. Caribbean States are urged to adopt a range of strategies to guarantee the speedy enactment of such legislation thereby ensuring the protection of women from femicide, the gravest form of discrimination and violence against women.
