NCJ Number
133805
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1991) Pages: 476-485
Date Published
1991
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Information derived from Uniform Crime Report data for 1980-1982 is presented on U.S. intimate femicide rates, the relationship of the victim to the offender, age as well as race and ethnicity of victims and offenders, weapon choice, and situational factors to establish that intimate femicide is a missing link in the social science research on violence against women.
Abstract
Approximately four women were killed by intimate partners every day during 1980, 1981, and 1982. The majority of the 2,415 women (57.7 percent) killed by intimate partners were classified as wives; the 1,041 "friends" (24.9 percent) had the next highest frequency of lethal victimization. The age of the victims over the 1980 to 1982 period ranged from 16 to 91. White women, including Hispanic women, comprised the majority of victims (60.4 percent), but African-American women were disproportionately represented at 37.1 percent of all intimate femicide victim. Women were most often killed by a gun and by a single offender, and killings were precipitated by an argument. Intimate femicide emerges as a social problem that merits both informed discussion and additional research. 1 note, 1 figure, and 20 references (Author abstract modified)