For Release: Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Annual VPC Study Released for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October
Washington, DC — Nearly 2,400 females were killed by males in 2024 and of these, 86.9 percent knew their killer. Guns were used in 63.4 percent of the attacks according to the most recent edition of the annual Violence Policy Center (VPC) study When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2024 Homicide Data.
Each year the VPC releases this report for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. The study uses 2024 crime data, the most recent available, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and covers homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender.
“Lethal violence against women by men is a national crisis with a particularly devastating impact on Black women,” states VPC Government Affairs Director Kristen Rand. “The proliferation of guns only exacerbates the problem, escalating domestic abuse into domestic homicides. This data only confirms the need for effective policies and additional resources to help protect women.”
Looking back over the past 29 years, from 1996 to 2024, the rate of females murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents dropped from 1.6 per 100,000 females in 1996 to 1.4 per 100,000 females in 2024, a decrease of 13 percent. Since reaching its low of 1.1 per 100,000 females in 2013, the rate has increased, with 2024’s rate of 1.4 per 100,000 females up 27 percent since 2013.
The study also has a separate section focusing on Black females killed by males as well as expanded state information for Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
National statistics from the study include the following:
- Nationwide, 2,381 females were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2024, at a rate of 1.4 per 100,000. Of the 2,326 homicides where the race of the victim was identified, 1,507 were white, 704 were Black, 73 were Asian or Pacific Islander, and 42 were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
- Nearly nine out of 10 victims (86.9 percent) knew their offenders. Of the victims who knew their offenders, 57.6 percent were wives or other intimate acquaintances of their killers. More than six times as many females were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers.
- Black women are disproportionately impacted by lethal violence committed by males. In 2024, Black females were murdered by males at a rate of 2.9 per 100,000, more than twice the rate of 1.2 per 100,000 for white females murdered by males. In 2024, Black females accounted for 14.1 percent of the female population in the United States, yet 30.3 percent of the females killed by males in single victim/single offender incidents were Black. Where the relationship could be determined, 89.8 percent of Black females killed by males knew their killers. The percentage of Black females killed by males with a firearm has increased substantially ─ from 51.3 percent in 2011 to 76.5 percent in 2024.
- Firearms were the weapons most commonly used by males to murder females in 2024. Nationwide, for homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 63.4 percent of female victims were shot and killed with a gun. Of the homicides committed with guns, 60.0 percent were killed with handguns. The percentage of females killed by males with a firearm has increased substantially from 51.5 percent in 2011 to 63.4 percent in 2024.
- The overwhelming majority of homicides were not related to any other felony crime, such as rape or robbery. Nationwide, for homicides in which the circumstances could be identified, 92.4 percent of the homicides were not related to the commission of another felony. Most often, females were killed by males in the course of an argument between the victim and the offender.
For a slideshow presenting key findings from the study, click here.
For social media graphics presenting select study findings, click here.
To see previous editions of When Men Murder Women, click here.
A note on the lack of state rankings. This is the 29th edition of When Men Murder Women and presents primarily national data. Editions of the report published before 2023 also ranked the states by their rate of females killed by males. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing transition in the way the FBI collects and reports crime data, the information currently available does not allow for state rankings. The VPC hopes that at some point in the near future FBI crime data will once again be sufficiently robust to allow for a more complete analysis of state-level data, including state rankings.
The study calculates the rate of women murdered by men 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.
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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.