FROM FEMICIDE TO MURDER IN SELF- DEFENSE - THE CULMINATION OF GENDERBASED VIOLENCE IN R. N. MACEDONIA, WITH REFERENCE TO NATIONAL LEGISLATION AND PRACTICE

Abstract

The ratification of international instruments to combat gender-based violence (such as the Istanbul

Convention) and legal solutions that were not sensitive enough to respond to real current needs, conditions

changes that, in practice, should mean a significantly better and more adequate handling of this matter and

hopefully, achieving the desired prevention. The amendments and additions to the Criminal Code that took

place in February 2023 significantly improved the legal framework and harmonized the material criminal

law with the mentioned Convention, however what is essential is the practice and implementation of the

provisions in life. Until the mentioned changes, the acts of the perpetrators of femicide or its attempt were

mostly qualified as forms of serious bodily injury or murder, a basic form, which did not adequately capture

the seriousness of the act, its harm and the motivations of the perpetrator. Femicide, as the most serious

manifestation of gender-based violence, is not only a legal but above all a social problem, which requires a

proper legislative response. On the other hand, often as an outcome of gender-based violence against women

is the killing of the aggressor by the primary victim, which causes difficulty for adequate qualification in

practice and adequate treatment.

In the following paper, we will give an overview of the changes that were made, in order to identify possible

omissions or highlight positive aspects of the changes in this area. Special attention will be paid to the

importance of implementing these provisions, which should improve the efficiency of the legal system in

prevention, suppression and punishment. The paper aims to raise awareness of femicide and murder as an

outcome of gender-based violence, as a serious social problem that requires urgent and concrete measures,

as well as to encourage legal changes in the direction of improvement and alignment with the emergence of

new forms and sub-forms of gender-based violence.