For Release: Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Annual Violence Policy Center study released for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October
Washington, DC — Nine out of 10 Black females murdered by males are killed by someone they know, most often with a gun, according to the new Violence Policy Center (VPC) study When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2023 Homicide Data.
The VPC releases the study each year for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. The study uses 2023 data, the most recent year for which information is available, and covers homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender using data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Report.
The study found that in 2023, 733 Black females were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents at a rate of 3.1 per 100,000. In comparison, the rate for white women murdered by males for that year was 1.2 per 100,000. Nationwide, across all races, 2,412 females were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2023, at a rate of 1.4 per 100,000.
Firearms, especially handguns, were the most common weapon used by males to murder Black females. When the murder weapon could be identified, 74.7 percent of Black female victims were shot and killed with guns. Of these, 61.5 percent were killed with a handgun. The percentage of Black females killed by males with a firearm has increased substantially: from 51.0 percent in 2011 to 74.7 percent in 2023.
VPC Government Affairs Director Kristen Rand states, “Black women have the highest rate of homicide victimization by males in our nation and are almost always killed by someone they know. This is an ongoing crisis that demands immediate public attention and increased resources in support of domestic violence prevention efforts.”
Additional findings from the report relating to Black females murdered by males include:
- In 2023, Black females accounted for 14.0 percent of the female population in the United States, yet 31.4 percent of the females killed by males in single victim/single offender incidents were Black.
- Where the relationship could be determined, 90.2 percent of Black females killed by males in single victim/single offender incidents knew their killers (531 out of 589). More than nine times as many Black females were murdered by a male they knew (531 victims) than were killed by male strangers (58 victims) in single victim/single offender incidents in 2023. Of Black female victims who knew their offenders, 54.2 percent (288 out of 531) were wives, common-law wives, ex-wives, or girlfriends of the offenders. The number of Black females shot and killed by their husband or intimate acquaintance (214 victims) was more than three and a half times as high as the total number murdered by male strangers using all weapons combined (58 victims) in single victim/single offender incidents in 2023.
- Where the circumstances could be determined, Black females were most often killed by males in the course of an argument — most commonly with a firearm. In 2023, for the 508 homicides in which the circumstances between the Black female victim and male offender could be identified, 91.3 percent (464 out of 508) were not related to the commission of any other felony. Two-thirds of non-felony related homicides (313 out of 464) involved arguments between the Black female victim and male offender and 69.3 percent (217 victims) were shot and killed with guns during those arguments.
- For homicides where the age of the victim was reported (719 out of 733), 7.5 percent of Black female victims were less than 18 years old (54 victims) and 6.7 percent were 65 years of age or older (48 victims). The average age of Black female homicide victims was 36.4 years old.
The study calculates the rate of females murdered by males by dividing the total number of females murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents by the total female population and multiplying the result by 100,000. The rate of Black females murdered by males is calculated by dividing the total number of Black females murdered by males by the total Black female population and multiplying the result by 100,000.
To view the full report, please visit http://vpc.org/studies/wmmw2025.pdf.
To see previous editions of When Men Murder Women, please click here.
For a slideshow presenting key findings from the study on Black females killed by males, click here.
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The Violence Policy Center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
