ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an explorative analysis of femicide cases that were concealed by the perpetrators through homicide-scene staging (H.S.S.), also known as “concealed femicide.” Further examining this newly identified form of femicide, this chapter adds two layers to understanding it. The first layer positions concealed femicide within a feminist theoretical framework which focuses on H.S.S. practices as emanating from women’s domestic life experience rendering them particularly effective in domestic surroundings. Armed with feminist accounts of concepts such as “vulnerability” and “suspicion,” the chapter’s analysis pertains to the legal aftermath of femicide, whereby an inability to secure the perpetrator’s criminal conviction consolidates in light of the massive manipulation perpetrators exert on crucial forensic evidence. Four Israeli cases discussed in this chapter demonstrate the diverse and destructive ways H.S.S. can affect femicide concealment. Analyzing these concealed-femicide cases, which were eventually exposed through a legal process, reveals yet another cost that femicide victims incur. Lacking direct evidence as to the cause of death, concealed-femicide cases are decided based on circumstantial evidence, resulting in lesser credibility in proving the perpetrator’s guilt and leaving room for doubts and motivation for perpetrators to appeal their conviction before higher courts.
