For Release: Tuesday, September 20, 2011
State Has Held Top Spot for Four of the Last Five Years
WASHINGTON, DC–Nevada, with a rate of 2.70 per 100,000, ranked first in the nation in the rate of women killed by men for the second year in a row according to the new Violence Policy Center (VPC) report “When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2009 Homicide Data” (http://vpc.org/studies/wmmw2011.pdf). The state has held the top position for four of the last five years. The annual VPC report details national and state-by-state information on female homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender. The study uses the most recent data available from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s unpublished Supplementary Homicide Report and is released each year to coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October.
Ranked behind Nevada were: Alabama at 2 with a rate of 2.64 per 100,000; Louisiana at 3 with a rate of 1.99 per 100,000; Arizona at 4 with a rate of 1.92 per 100,000; Tennessee at 5 with a rate of 1.83 per 100,000; Georgia at 6 with a rate of 1.80 per 100,000; South Carolina at 7 with a rate of 1.79 per 100,000; South Dakota at 8 (tie) with a rate of 1.72 per 100,000; Hawaii at 8 (tie) with a rate of 1.72 per 100,000; and, Missouri at 10 with a rate of 1.70 per 100,000. Nationally, the rate of women killed by men in single victim/single offender instances was 1.25 per 100,000.
VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, “Violence against women too often escalates to homicide. Prevention of such violence deserves serious and sustained attention from law enforcement officials and policymakers alike.”
Nationwide, 1,818 females were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2009. Where weapon use could be determined, firearms were the most common weapon used by males to murder females (861 of 1,654 homicides or 52 percent). Of these, 69 percent (593 of 861) were committed with handguns. In cases where the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 93 percent of female victims (1,579 out of 1,693) were murdered by someone they knew. Of these, 63 percent (989 out of 1,579) were wives or intimate acquaintances of their killers. Nearly 14 times as many females were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers. In 88 percent of all incidents where the circumstances could be determined, the homicides were not related to the commission of any other felony, such as rape or robbery.
About the Violence Policy Center
The Violence Policy Center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
