The lady killer
María Belén Bernal vanished after visiting her husband at a police training school in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, where he was an instructor. Her body has been found, and he is on the run as the main suspect in her killing.
Ms Bernal's death sparked protests in a country which has reportedly seen more than 200 femicides this year.
James FitzGerald, BBC News
Our intrepid correspondent helpfully defines femicide as when a woman is killed because of her gender
. It's a crime of gender hatred which is on the rise in Ecuador. But he doesn't go the extra step to question whether this case really fits that particular narrative.
Was Bernal killed because of her gender, or because of her marital relationship with her assailant? In other words, was this killing that of a woman for no other reason than she was a woman, or primarily that of a spouse who happened to be a woman? In which case, it's premature to characterise this attack as femicide and not uxoricide.
Many reasons might underlie spousal homicide, not all of which need be driven by gender per se. While obvious conclusions may be incorrect, if sensationalist enough they're the ones that grab attention. But who cares about balance and nuance when you're the world's most trusted international news broadcaster
™?
And with that, petty points won! Yay, me!
In his defence, FitzGerald doesn't explicitly state that this is a case of femicide. He just fell on the narrative.
It appears that Chilean law has redefined femicide as the murder of a woman by her (presumably) male partner, seemingly irrespective of any underlying motive.
The crime was classified as a femicide, which under Chilean law is defined as the murder of a woman by her partner or former partner.
Charis McGowan, BBC News
I have no idea what crime is committed if a lesbian murders her partner, or a misogynist murders a rando; other than plain old run-of-the-mill murder, that is. (shrug)