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When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 1999 Homicide Data
Females Murdered by Males in Single Victim/Single Offender Incidents
Introduction
Domestic violence,
or intimate partner violence, against women is a disturbingly common
occurance in the United States. Estimates from the National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS) indicate that from 1993 to 1998, women were victims of
violent crimes by their intimate partners an average of more than 935,000
times a year. During this period, intimate partner violence comprised
22 percent of all violent crimes against women.a While firearms are used
in a relatively small percentage of domestic violence incidents,b when
a firearm is present, domestic violence can, and all too often does,
turn into domestic homicide.
Congress has recognized
the unique and deadly role firearms play in domestic violence. In 1994,
Congress passed the Protective Order Gun Ban, which prohibits gun possession
by a person against whom there is a restraining or protective order
for domestic violence.c In 1996, Congress passed the Domestic Violence
Misdemeanor Gun Ban, which prohibits anyone convicted of a misdemeanor
crime of domestic violence or child abuse from purchasing or possessing
a gun.d
Currently, the Protective
Order Gun Ban is under attack in the courts. The constitutionality of
the law is being challenged in United States v. Emerson, which
is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In
Emerson, a federal judge struck down the Protective Order Gun
Ban as unconstitutional. In an unprecedented ruling, he found that the
Ban violated the Second Amendment and due process clause of the U.S.
Constitution. The judge's decision in Emerson is supported by
numerous pro-gun organizations, including the National Rifle Association.
In the case, Sacha Emerson filed for divorce from her husband, Timothy
Joe Emerson, and received a restraining order against him. While subject
to the restraining order, Emerson not only continued to carry guns,
but twice threatened to kill Sacha and threatened her and their child
with a handgun.
Women must consider
the risks of having a gun in their home, whether they are in a domestic
violence situation or not. While this study does not focus solely on
domestic violence homicide, it provides a stark reminder that domestic
violence and guns form a deadly combination. Firearms are rarely used
to kill criminals or stop crimes.e Instead, they are all too often used
to inflict harm on the very people they were intended to protect.
The Reality: The Husband or Boyfriend with a Gun
When Men Murder
Women is an annual report prepared by the Violence Policy Center
detailing the reality of homicides committed against women. The study
analyzes the most recent Supplementary Homicide Report data submitted
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.f The information used for this
report is for the year 1999. Once again, it is the most recent data
available. This is the first analysis of the 1999 data on female homicide
victims to offer breakdowns of cases in the 15 states with the highest
female victim/male offender homicide rates, and the first to rank the
states by the rate of these female homicides.
This study examines
only those instances involving one female homicide victim and one male
offender. This is the exact scenario�the lone male attacker and the
vulnerable woman�that is used by the gun lobby to promote gun ownership
among women.
In 1999, there were
1,750 females murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents
that were submitted to the FBI for its Supplementary Homicide Report.g
These highlights from the report, expanded upon in the following sections,
dispel many of the myths propounded by the gun lobby regarding the nature
of lethal violence against women:
- More than 11
times as many females were murdered by a male they knew (1,521 victims)
than were killed by male strangers (133 victims).
- Sixty percent
(917) of female homicide victims were wives or intimate acquaintancesh
of their killers.
- There were 317
women shot and killed by either their husband or intimate acquaintance
during the course of an argument�nearly one woman a day.
- More female homicides
were committed with firearms (53 percent) than with all other weapons
combined. Of the homicides committed with firearms, 76 percent were
committed with handguns.
- In 87 percent
of all incidents where circumstance could be determined, homicides
were not related to the commission of any other felony, such
as rape or robbery.
The study also analyzes
available information on the murders of black and Hispanic females.
Not surprisingly, these homicides mirror the trends for women overall:
most homicides against women are not committed by strangers, but by
men known to the victims.
a) Callie Marie
Rennison, "Intimate Partner Violence," Bureau of Justice Statistics
Special Report, Washington DC, May 2000.
b) Lawrence A. Greenfield,
et al, "Violence by Intimates: Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current
or Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends," Bureau of Justice Statistics,
Washington DC, March 1998, p. 22.
c) The law prohibits
gun possession to a person "(8) who is subject to a court order that
(A) was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual
notice, and at which such person had an opportunity to participate;
(B) restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an
intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or
person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner
in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child; and (C)(i)
includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to
the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or (ii) by its
terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use
of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would
reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury." 18 USC 922(g)(8).
d) The law prohibits
a person "who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime
of domestic violence, to ship or transport in interstate or foreign
commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition;
or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported
in interstate or foreign commerce." 18 USC 922(g)(9).
e) According to
the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supplementary Homicide Report,
in 1999 there were only 155 justifiable homicides (the justified killing
of a felon during the commission of a felony) committed by private citizens
using firearms. Of these, only 134 involved handguns. While firearms
are at times used by private citizens to kill criminals or to stop crimes,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the most
common scenarios of gun use in America are suicide (16,599 in 1999),
homicide (10,828 in 1999), or fatal unintentional injury (824 in 1999).
The April 1994 Justice Department study Guns and Crime revealed
that from 1987 to 1992, the annual average of all victims of violence
who claimed to have used a firearm of any type (handgun, shotgun, or
rifle) to defend themselves was only about one percent (62,200 instances).
Another 20,300 claimed to have used a firearm to defend their property
during a theft, household burglary, or motor vehicle theft. Also, it
is not known whether the gun was successfully used to stop the particular
crime. In comparison, Guns and Crime reported that offenders
armed with handguns alone committed a record 930,700 violent crimes
in 1992.
f) The Federal Bureau
of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program collects basic
information on serious crimes from participating police agencies and
records supplementary information about the circumstances of homicides
in its unpublished Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR). Submitted monthly,
supplementary data consists of: the age, sex, race, and ethnicity of
both victims and offenders; the types of weapons used; the relationship
of victims to offenders; and, the circumstances of the murders. According
to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, supplementary data are
provided on only a subset of homicide cases. Additionally, SHR data
are updated throughout the year as homicide reports are forwarded by
state UCR programs.
g) In 1999 the states
of Florida and Kansas did not submit any data to the FBI Supplementary
Homicide Report, while Alabama did not submit sufficient data to be
included in this analysis. In addition, data from these states was not
requested individually because the difference in collection techniques
would cause a bias in the study results.
h) Intimate acquaintance
is defined as a wife, common-law wife, ex-wife, or girlfriend.
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All contents � 2001 Violence Policy Center
The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational foundation
that conducts research on violence in America and works to develop violence-reduction
policies and proposals. The Center examines the role of firearms in America,
conducts research on firearms violence, and explores new ways to decrease
firearm-related death and injury. |