JONESBORO, AR (KAIT) – A new study finds Arkansas and Missouri are among the states with the highest rates of women killed by men.
Arkansas is ranked 4th in the nation for women killed by men, according to a new study by the Violence Policy Center, with a rate of 1.97 women killed per 100,000. Missouri came in 7th place with a homicide rate of 1.84.
“When Men Murder Women” used data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2016 Supplemental Homicide Report to rank the 10 states with the highest female victim/male offender rates.
Alaska topped the list with a homicide rate of 3.40 per 100,000. That’s nearly three times the national average, according to the study, of 1.20. Louisiana came in second with a murder rate of 2.42.
The survey found that 1, 809 women were murdered by men during 2016. Many of those (93 percent) knew the man. Of those who knew their killers, 63 percent were wives or intimate acquaintances.
Nationwide, female homicides were committed with firearms (56 percent) than any other weapon combined, the report found.
In Arkansas, 60 percent of victims were shot and killed with guns. Of those who knew their killer, 76 were wives, common-law wives, ex-wives, or girlfriends of the offenders. The victims’ average age was 37 years old. Of the 30 homicides, 16 of the victims were white and 14 were black.
In Missouri, 57 women were murdered by men in 2016. Of those, 39 were white, 17 were black, and 1 was Asian or Pacific Islander. Seventy-two percent were victims of gun violence; 88 percent knew their killer. The average victim’s age was 38.
