A new study reveals an increase of gun-related deaths to about four women a day.
A recent study examining gender differences and homicide (Fridel, et al.) identified a rise in domestic violence murders since 2014, after 40 years of a steady reduction. In the US, three women used to be killed by an intimate partner each day. The figure is now up – closer to four women a day. At the same time, the number of men who are murdered by an intimate partner has declined.
The means to kill is gun-related and the “why” invites us to recognize how violence against women is closely connected to the growing sentiment of hate promoted by white supremacists.
A woman’s life is safer with someone she doesn’t know than with a man she knows.
According to the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV), intimate partner homicides make up approximately 10% of all US murders and of those, women comprise approximately 70% of those killed. In other words, one out of every ten people murdered is by an intimate partner, and seven of those ten murdered are women. Research tells us that women are far more likely to be killed by an intimate acquaintance or spouse than by a stranger.
Domestic Violence
Domestic violence, also described as intimate partner violence, is defined as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is applied by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Intimate partner violence includes physical and sexual violence and threats to intimidate and cause harm to another (US Department of Justice, 2015).
Red Flags for Intimate Partner Homicide
Threats of physical violence
In abusive relationships, emotional abuse and varying threats to get a partner to comply too often are commonplace. When the threat escalates to a threat of violence such as “I’ll kill you,” research tells us that the woman is then 15 times more likely than other women to be murdered.
