Femicide is the practice of murdering females. It is
endemic in the
Middle East, and practised by both
Christian and Muslim
Arabs, it is also practised in
Latin America and
India with female
infanticide being a notable problem in
China.
In the Middle East, the practice is often for reasons of 'honour.' If a woman or girl talks with a man, and is not properly chaperoned, she can be killed. If a woman has premarital sex, even if she is raped, she can be killed. In many cases if a woman is killed, she is actually quite lucky. Many women are forced into arranged marriages, sometimes even with their rapists. If a woman refuses an arranged marriage, she will be killed or mutilated. These are legal practises in the Arab world.
In India, the practice of dowry is still rather extensive. In recent years, it has become a business in and of itself. A man will marry and his family be paid a dowry, within the next few years he will kill his wife and remarry, continuing the process. These deaths are often by immolation, and rarely investigated.
In Latin America, the excuse often used for the practice of femicide is that it is too difficult to get a divorce. Once again the crimes are rarely investigated.