Chile takes a decisive step towards improving the statistical recording of femicide with an inter-institutional workshop

“We are aware as an institution and as a country, that addressing this phenomenon of femicide from a statistical perspective requires the collaboration of multiple actors, the crossing of information sources; but it also depends on the willingness of these institutions to generate administrative records that provide useful and reliable data that we can later transform into information for decision making” Alejandro Henríquez, Head of the Department of Demographic and Social Statistics of the National Institute of Statistics of Chile.

"This workshop is important for the institutional mapping in order to define the way in which femicides will be measured in Chile. The latter will ensure that our country will have measurement standards comparable to other countries in the region. This space is not only of a technical nature, it is aimed at all participants who are involved first hand in how measurements are made, and their knowledge about their strengths and areas of opportunity". Patricio Navarro, Head of Office of UNODC Chile.

On June 4, 2025, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) of Chile, in collaboration with the Center of Excellence INEGI-UNODC and UN Women, held a virtual “Institutional Mapping and Exchange Workshop: Pilot Test of the Statistical Framework for Measuring Gender-related Homicide of Women and Girls (Femicide/Feminicide)”. The activity brought together representatives of seven key institutions involved in the production of statistics on femicide in order to share experiences, review current data generation processes and define a joint roadmap for the implementation of the framework.

Among the participating institutions were the Undersecretariat for Crime Prevention, the Chilean Investigative Police, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Health, the National Center for the Prevention of Homicide and Violent Crime, and the National Victim Support Service, who shared their experiences, tools and processes. The purpose was to identify synergies, align methodological criteria and advance towards an efficient and coordinated statistical traceability of femicides.

The first participation was in charge of the National Service for Women and Gender Equity (SERNAMEG) and the Undersecretariat for Crime Prevention, where they presented the legal definition of femicide in Chile (intimate and non-intimate), as well as the functioning of the Intersectoral Femicide Circuit (CIF), including its role in the care of victims and family members, and the institutional coordination mechanisms currently in place.

In a second intervention, INE and the Undersecretariat for Crime Prevention presented the statistical information available on homicides and femicides, including the most recent national reports and the processes of collection, analysis and dissemination of police and judicial data.

On the other hand, the Center of Excellence INEGI-UNODC and the Center of Excellence in Gender Statistics (CEGS) of UN Women introduced the content of the Statistical Framework for Measuring Gender-related Homicide of Women and Girls, highlighting its origin, objectives; as well as the importance of adopting a globally harmonized statistical definition based on specific variables, beyond national legislations.

For their part, representatives of the Investigative Police, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Health and INE shared their processes for recording data on homicides and violent deaths, identifying the sources, the variables captured and the degree of alignment with the international statistical framework.

Finally, the Undersecretariat for Crime Prevention, through the Victim Support Program, presented the complementary variables on violence against women that could be linked to cases of femicide, including background information on the aggressor, the victim and the context prior to the events.

The institutions agreed that one of the main challenges is the coordination between the information systems that have been developed, and recognize the Framework as a statistical tool that can serve for the “institutions involved to speak a common language around the data in order to effectively prevent and punish femicide” INE.

With this pilot test, Chile positions itself as an actor committed to the continuous improvement of its institutional capacities to address one of the most extreme forms of gender-based violence: femicide.With this pilot test, Chile positions itself as an actor committed to the continuous improvement of its institutional capacities to address one of the most extreme forms of gender-based violence: femicide.

This workshop was attended by Patricia González, Unit Coordinator of the Homicide and Violent Crime Prevention Center of the Undersecretariat for Crime Prevention; Alejandra Martínez, Head of the Department of Studies and Public Policies; Rocío Miranda, National Head of the Violence Against Women Unit of the National Service for Women and Gender Equity; Dayli Piedra, Professional of the FIC Center and Information Standards of the Department of Health Statistics and Information of the Health Planning Division of the Undersecretariat of Public Health of the Ministry of Health-Chile; Sebastían Farías, lawyer of the National Service for Women and Gender Equity, Johana Barrales, Professional of the Analysis and Study Area of the Victim Support Program, Lorena Velozo, Head of the Vital Facts Studies Unit of the Ministry of Health, Noé Valdiviezo, Technical Specialist at the Center of Excellence in Gender Statistics, Javiera Torres, INE Chile, Claudia González, Head of Administrative Records INE Chile, Olga Barquero, Head of the Institutional Cooperation Unit in charge of the Knowledge Transmission Network (TRC), Mónica Salinero, Gender-Based Violence Specialist and Head of the UN Women Office in Chile, among others.