Algeria: murder of teenage girl by her father causes outrage

Feminist associations and academics in Algeria have released a joint statement calling for justice following the murder of the teenage girl, Asma, by her father, reports Le Matin d’Algerie on February 7th.

Asma lived in the small town of Sidi Akkacha in the Chlef region, in northern Algeria. Reportedly, it is suggested that the girl’s school, the police and her neighbours had been aware of the ongoing abuse the girl had faced at the hands of her father.

The civil society associations denounce the lack of support for women and the impunity afforded to violent men in a patriarchal environment. They call for laws protecting women to be applied effectively, with new measures to prevent violence and keep women safe. They also highlighted the fact that Asma’s cries for help, since she was a minor, should have triggered child protection involvement.

While there seems to be no official statistics on the number of women murdered by relatives every year in Algeria, a report by feminist association Feminicides Algerie states that at least one woman is killed every week, although many cases are not made public.

Algeria has made amendments to its Penal Code in 2015 to protect women, recognizing physical, psychological and sexual forms of violence, but it has been largely ineffective as the perpetrators are released if they are “forgiven” by their victims, making them vulnerable to family pressure. Amnesty International has also highlighted the lack of emergency housing for women fleeing violence.

The North African state has also committed to revising its Family Code in line with the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of  All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2025, a major step in human rights policy. Another 2020 amendment to the Constitution enshrines gender equality in the law, but this recent incident shows that this is not fully applied in practice.

Le Matin d’Algerie, Amnesty International, Feminicides Algerie, Maghrebi.org