Belgium loses all official femicide data as citizen platform shuts down

Belgium has lost all official data on femicides after the citizen-run Stop Feminicide platform halted operations in early August due to funding cuts, while the government's promised official census remains delayed by a year. The federal government's 2023 Stop Feminicide law required a royal decree for official counting by late 2025, but Minister Rob Beenders failed to meet this deadline. The platform's coordinator Aline Dirkx says two of three subsidies were lost, forcing prioritization of other actions. Beenders' office cites unresolved legal and technical difficulties, including the absence of "femicide" in the penal code and incompatible police databases. The Institute for Equality aims to publish a partial report this year, but civil society faces incomplete statistics.