Characteristics and Prevention of Intimate Partner Femicide-Suicide Cases Committed with Firearms

The publication examines cases of femicide-suicide committed with firearms in intimate partner relationships in Serbia in the period 2019–2022. The research is characterized by a multiple and comprehensive methodology that included: a review of academic literature on femicide-suicide cases secondary analysis of data from femicide reports of the Autonomous Women's Center for the period 2010–2022 content analysis of 803 media articles on femicide cases committed with firearms in the period 2019–2022, with a particular focus on femicide-suicide cases in intimate partner relationships analysis of data collected from competent institutions through freedom of information requests analysis of transcripts from three focus groups and interviews with professionals in the system of protection of women from violence analysis of transcripts of semi-structured interviews with women who survived attempted femicide or who were threatened with firearms A total of 27 femicide cases committed with firearms were identified, of which 16 femicide-suicide cases in intimate partner relationships were subject to in-depth analysis. The publication contains an analysis of the characteristics of victims, perpetrators and the criminogenic situation, identification of risk factors, analysis of institutional responses, and recommendations for improving the prevention of gender-based killings of women.