Femicide and murdered women’s children: which future for these children orphans of a living parent?

Abstract

BackgroundTo assess the prevalence of femicides in Italy over the last three years and the potential long lasting effects of these traumatic events for the children of a woman who dies a violent death.MethodsThe data used in this study come from an internet search for the number of femicides occurring in Italy between 1st January, 2012 and 31st October, 2014.ResultsThe total number of femicides was 319; the average age of murdered women was 47.50 ± 19.26. Cold arms in the form of sharp object -mostly knives- have caused the death of 102/319 women; firearms were used in 87/319 cases; asphyxiation was the chosen method in 52/319 cases. About the place where the femicides occurred, 209/319 were committed inside the victim’s house. Children of women who died a violent death were 417 with a total of 180 minors in less than three years. A total of 52/417 children were witness to the killing and, among these 30/52 were minors; in 18/417 cases, children were murdered together with their mother and among these 9/18 were minors.ConclusionsLong-term studies are needed to ascertain what happens to these children, to understand what are the most appropriate psychological treatments, the best decisions about the contact with their father and the best placement for these children.

Violência urbana e fatores de risco relacionados ao feminicídio em contexto amazônico brasileiro

“…Median age of femicide victims was relatively low and much lower than victims of other violent deaths, corroborating a study in Porto Alegre 27 and differing from findings in other countries 23,26 . In Italy, for example, more than half of the victims were over 45 years of age 23 .…”

“…Median age of femicide victims was relatively low and much lower than victims of other violent deaths, corroborating a study in Porto Alegre 27 and differing from findings in other countries 23,26 . In Italy, for example, more than half of the victims were over 45 years of age 23 . In addition, our final model showed a protective effect against femicide as women's age increased, suggesting that younger victims are more vulnerable and that femicide may negatively influence premature mortality indicators in these women.…”

“…Mainstream broadsheet newspapers with different sections were excluded because they did not prioritize wide news coverage of homicides. Google (https://www.google.com.br/) search engines were also used as an additional resource with the following terms: "woman", "murdered", "assassinated", and "Manaus" 23 .…”

Murdered women’s children: A social emergency and gloomy reality

“…Previous research performed by the same author, Ferrara and colleagues, revealed that the majority of femicides occurred in northern Italy and that the current and former intimate partners were the perpetrators in more than half of the homicide deaths of women in Italy. (13) Prior findings revealed that actual or imminent separation appears to be a high- risk situation, since, in our data, the passionate motive is the most frequent motive behind femicide. Our results are consistent with these findings: 72,6 % of victims were ≤ 60 years old in 2015.…”

Focus on children murdered by parents in Italy: A sad reality

“…When the filicide is caused by women capable of understanding and taking action, the motives are: life stressor events, pietas (altruistic murder), the mother's immaturity, the fact that the child is hyperac-tive, the fact that the child is perceived as the result of a sinful act, Medea syndrome, personality dis-orders (addicted, narcissistic or histrionic), the fact that the child is unwanted, depression in a narcis-sistic subject, and behavioral disorders due to alcohol and drug abuse. (30,(31)(32)(33)(34) If pathological causes with partial (greatly diminished) or total impairment to understand and take action are present, the motives are: postpartum psychosis, hysteric fundus, major depression, schizophrenia, twilight state, psychotic disorder due to a general medical condition, epilepsy, oligophfrenia, plaque sclerosis, and multiple personality. (30) …”