Study: Black Women Murdered by Men Are Most Often Killed by Someone They Know

A study from the Violence Policy Center reports that nine out of 10 black women murdered by men are killed by someone they know, most often with a gun.

According to the study, a black woman is far more likely to be killed by her spouse, an intimate acquaintance, or a family member than by a stranger. Of the black women victims who knew their offenders, 56 percent were wives, common-law wives, ex-wives, or girlfriends of the offenders. Ninety-two percent of the homicides of black females were intra-racial. The study also reports that in 2013, black females were murdered at a rate two and a half times higher than white females: 2.36 per 100,000 versus 0.95 per 100,000.
The 2015 VPC report is being released in advance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. The study uses 2013 data (the most recent available) from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Report and covers homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender.

Read the entire report here.

Photo: VPC