WASHINGTON (LEX 18) — A new study from the Violence Policy Center ranks Kentucky ninth in the nation in the rate of women murdered by men, with a rate of 1.69 per 100,000.
This is the second year in a row that Kentucky has ranked in the top 10 states for the rate of women murdered by men.
The study is called the When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2016 Homicide Data.
For the past 21 years, the VPC has released this annual report in advance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. This year, its release comes as the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is scheduled to expire on September 30. A bill to reauthorize VAWA has been introduced in the House.
The study uses 2016 data, the most recent year for which information is available. The study covers homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender, and uses data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Report.
The study found nationwide that more than 1,800 women were murdered by men in 2016 and that 93 percent were murdered by someone they knew. The most common weapon used was a gun.
VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, “The study shows that women are most likely to be murdered by a man they know with a gun, and that all too often that man is an intimate partner. The study highlights the importance of renewing the Violence Against Women Act, which would expand resources devoted to keeping guns out of the hands of abusers.”
The Violence Policy Center has published When Men Murder Women annually for 21 years, during which the national rate of women murdered by men in single victim/single offender incidents has dropped 24 percent — from 1.57 per 100,000 in 1996 to 1.20 per 100,000 in 2016. However, since reaching a low of 1.08 in 2014, the rate has increased in each of the last two years, with 2016’s rate of 1.20 per 100,000 up 11 percent since 2014.
Below is a list of the states with the 10 highest rates of females murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2016. For each of these states, the study offers a detailed summary including: the number of victims by age group and race; the most common weapons used; the victim to offender relationships; and, the circumstances of the homicides.