Women’s chances of being murdered by “intimates,” including current or former spouses or boyfriends, have risen since 1976, according to a Justice Department report, “Violence by Inmates.”
The report said, “Intimate violence predominantly affects women as victims …. Violence by an intimate accounts for about 21 percent of the violent crime experienced by women and about 2 percent of the violence experienced by males.”
Overall, reported murders by spouses or partners have decreased since 1976, from 2,957 to 1,842 in 1996. The number of male victims decreased by 62 percent while the number of female victims decreased by only 17 percent. Almost three-fourths of intimate murder victims in 1996 were women. Eighty-five percent of the victims of domestic violence in 1996 were women.
The report stated that 65 percent of the murders were committed using a firearm and that approximately 40 percent of those convicted for violence were on probation, under a restraining order, on parole, or other similar criminal justice status when the crime occurred.
Domestic Violence Information Center
