In the heat of political and social debates, it's common for technical terms to end up being used synonymously. Recently, the discussion about violence against women and gender bias brought to light a recurring question: Is misogyny equal to femicide? Although they are intrinsically linked, legally and conceptually, they occupy different spaces in the Brazilian legal system.
Misogyny is the ideological basis. It is the feeling of aversion, contempt, or hatred towards women, manifested through behaviors, speech, or structures that aim at the inferiorization of the female gender. It is not a crime specifically defined by that name in the Penal Code, but it is the "fuel" for various criminal behaviors, such as defamation, harassment, and discrimination.
Femicide is the final act. Legally, femicide is an aggravating circumstance of the crime of homicide (Law No. 13.104/2015). It occurs when the murder is committed because of the victim's gender, which involves domestic and family violence or contempt/discrimination against women. It is, in essence, the crime of death motivated by gender.
The short answer to "are they equivalent?" is no, but one often leads to the other. We can visualize misogyny as the root of a tree and femicide as the most tragic fruit of that same tree.
Misogyny creates the environment where violence is normalized.
Femicide is the ultimate and lethal expression of this hatred.
To say they are equivalent would be the same as saying that "prejudice equals aggression." Prejudice (misogyny) is the mental and social state; fatal aggression (femicide) is the extreme result.
Channels that cover politics and reactions, such as Jaguardopote, frequently show how legislative rigor is debated. Mixing the concepts can generate confusion in the application of penalties and the creation of public policies. Combating femicide requires public safety and severe punishment; combating misogyny requires education, cultural change, and awareness. Understanding that misogyny is the step that precedes femicide is fundamental for society to be able to identify warning signs before hatred becomes a criminal statistic.
Although they are not the same thing, the relationship between them is one of cause and effect. A mature debate on this topic should focus on how to dismantle cultural misogyny so that, consequently, femicide rates cease to be one of the major bottlenecks in security and human rights in Brazil.
