Female Homicide Research Articles

Does She Kill Like He Kills? Comparison of Homicides Committed by Women with Homicides Committed by Men in Spain

The homicides committed by women make up between 5 and 15% of the total number of homicides recorded in the world. Studies based on the gender of the perpetrator have been uncommon due to the low level of prevalence of female homicide offenders, but this tendency is currently undergoing a change. Nonetheless, in general, there is still limited knowledge of the role of women in serious crime, which makes the task of criminal policy more difficult. Therefore, the present investigation seeks to perform a comparative analysis of the homicides committed by women (n = 56) with those committed by men (n = 521). The cases in this sample correspond to homicides solved in Spain by the Civil Guard between the years 2013 and 2018. The findings of the study show that homicides by women have distinctive characteristics, with 3 out of every 4 taking place in the family environment, and these being dominated by cases of filicide. The victims are underage males with some type of vulnerability and a mental disorder. The female perpetrators tend to have a partner and live with somebody, have a mental disorder and do not present a prior criminal record. With regard to the crime, homicides perpetrated by women take place in the afternoon, without witnesses and in residences; when it comes to the criminal behaviours, they use weapons of opportunity, above all asphyxiating methods, they alter the scene and do not flee from the scene of the crime.

Sex Disparities in Sentencing and Judges’ Beliefs: A Vignette Approach

ABSTRACT The predominant theories on courtroom decision-making explain extralegal disparities with the courtroom actors’ use of stereotypes. We conducted a vignette study on a sample of judges at the Chinese National Judges College, manipulated the sex of the defendant in each vignette, then asked the subjects for the recommended sentence. The survey also contained a series of questions on the beliefs about the causes of crime, the patterns of criminal behaviors, and the effectiveness of punishment. We found that the judges recommended significantly less harsh sentences for the female homicide defendant, but recommended significantly harsher sentences for both female defrauding and drug trafficking defendants. We also found little evidence that the perception and belief variables were confounders behind the observed sex disparities.

Femicide and Feminicide in Mexico: Patterns and Trends in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Regions

The killing of women in Mexico has attracted both national and international attention. Many of these homicides are regarded as feminicides, which are defined as the misogynistic killing of women for reasons of gender rooted in ideological and structural gender inequalities. This study examines changes and continuities in female homicides and femicides from 2001 to 2017 in indigenous and non-indigenous municipalities. Female homicides have increased at a higher rate than femicides, but the latter has increased at a higher rate in indigenous municipalities than in non-indigenous municipalities. This is associated with an increase in gender equality in a context of conflict and structural discrimination against indigenous peoples. Implications for future research and public interventions are discussed.

Ideal Victims and Familiar Strangers: Non-Intimate Femicide in South African News Media

ABSTRACT Most female homicides are perpetrated by an intimate partner, but this is not reflected in news media coverage of the murders of women, which tends to focus on killings committed by family members, friends, neighbours, co-workers, and strangers. Nearly 60% of South African media coverage of female homicide profiles non-intimate killings. This study looks at multiple-year news coverage of 284 incidents of non-intimate femicide that took place in South Africa between 2012 and 2013, and compares narrative content and news frames used to report non-intimate femicides with those frames most commonly found in media coverage of intimate partner violence. This analysis reveals conspicuous differences between how the “problem” of femicide is reported and understood depending on the status of the victim and her relationship with the perpetrator, and how this distorts the reality of who is at risk of becoming a victim and who is to be feared as a perpetrator.

The Impact of Aggregate Level Alcohol Consumption on Homicide Rates: A Time Series Analysis.

Consumption of alcohol has an impact on violent crimes and homicides. The study examines the association between aggregate level consumption of spirit and homicide rates in the State of Kerala in India. Time-series analyses were conducted by building Autoregressive Moving Average with Exogenous Variables (ARMAX) models and OLS Regression models to explain the relationship between the monthly rate of consumption of alcoholic spirits and homicide rates. The study concludes that consumption of alcoholic spirits has a statistically significant impact on the total homicide rates and the male and female homicide rates. The study has significant policy implications being one of the first studies examining the relationship between alcohol consumption and homicide rates in India and suggesting methods to address challenges of adverse public health consequences associated with alcohol consumption.

Characteristics of persons accused of intimate partner homicide amongst forensic psychiatric observations.

BackgroundIntimate partner homicide (IPH) is a global public health problem. One study conducted over 66 countries found that 13.5% of all homicides and 38.6% of female homicides were committed by an intimate partner. In South Africa, there were no published studies that examine alleged perpetrators of IPH that were referred for forensic psychiatric observation.AimTo describe the profile of accused persons referred for forensic psychiatric observation for a charge of murder or attempted murder of their intimate partners. Certain characteristics were further examined according to the psychiatric observation outcomes.SettingThe study was conducted at Sterkfontein Hospital, a forensic psychiatric hospital in Gauteng, South Africa.MethodsA retrospective record review of accused persons referred for forensic psychiatric observation for a charge of murder or attempted murder of their intimate partners was conducted. The period of the review was 19 years. The definition of intimate partners included current or former spouses and partners, same-sex partners and rejected suitors.ResultsOne hundred and sixty-three files, which included forensic psychiatric reports, were reviewed. The findings related to the profile of accused persons and offence characteristics indicated that: (1) history of violent behaviour is prevalent; (2) homicides mostly occur in private homes; (3) knives and firearms are most often used; (4) infidelity, separation and jealousy are common motives; (5) psychotic disorders, personality disorders and substance use disorders feature prominently. A total of 88% of the sample were found fit to stand trial and 82% were found criminally responsible. Factors significantly associated with being found fit to stand trial and criminally responsible following the forensic psychiatric observation were: male gender, having received a tertiary education, employment prior to the offence, earning a salary of more than R10 000, having no previous psychiatric or medical illness, a positive forensic history, previous intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, indicating a motive for the homicide, having no psychiatric illness at the time of the offence which would impact fitness to stand trial and criminal responsibility.Factors significantly associated with being found not fit to stand trial and not criminally responsible following the forensic psychiatric observation were: female gender, having received a primary education, unemployment prior to the offence, having a previous psychiatric or medical illness, no forensic history, no previous IPV perpetration, not indicating a motive for the homicide, having a psychiatric illness at the time of the offence which would impact fitness to stand trial and criminal responsibility.ConclusionThe characteristics highlighted in this study can contribute to the development of risk assessment tools which can be used to identify likely perpetrators of IPH. Other interventions, for example controlling access to knives and firearms, reducing substance abuse and improving mental health services, are also important in the prevention of IPH.

Crime Diversity: Sociocultural Aspects of Femicide in Hong Kong.

Despite Hong Kong's ranking as having one of the lowest homicide rates worldwide, it has one of the highest female homicide rates globally. This research catered to the need for a systematic empirical analysis of the femicide phenomenon in Hong Kong by examining census data of femicide cases that occurred in Hong Kong in 5 years: from January 2015 to December 2019. Thirty-eight cases were examined and coded, covering 17 variables relating to victims, perpetrators, and modus operandi. Despite the small number of cases, this article highlights femicide's sociocultural diversity by discussing its unique patterns in Hong Kong, with a high share of femicide-suicide cases and overrepresentation of foreigners and women older than 60. The article concludes with recommended policy strategy reformulations needed to better combat femicide in Hong Kong.

Patterns of Intentional Dismemberment in Florida Medicolegal Death Investigations

This study identifies broad patterns of intentional dismemberment in Florida as observed in cases accessioned over a 15-year period at the University of Florida C. A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory. A review of all case files dating from July 2003 through June 2018 (N = 959) found 28 individuals with indications of intentional dismemberment. Decedents ranged from neonatal to 76 years in age at death; half were female, and 91.7% were identified by the medical examiner as White. Transection via sawing was the most common dismemberment mode (50%), followed by disarticulation of joints (19%). The most common implement was a saw, and electric reciprocating saws were the most common saw type. These data are compared to multiple U.S.-based dismemberment samples, positioned within a larger U.S. framework, and assessed against international data. Combined U.S. data suggest female homicide victims are more likely to be dismembered than male homicide victims. The use of three different modes of dismemberment, with transection by sawing more common than transection by chopping and transection by any means more common than disarticulation, is noted across the Eastern U.S. However, selection of implement and mode may be influenced by sub-regional factors such as population density. This is in contrast to available Latin American data, which indicate dismemberments—commonly in the context of organized violence and used as a means of symbolic communication—occur primarily to males and overwhelmingly by chopping. The discrepancies in dismemberment patterns between the U.S. and Latin American contexts illustrate the importance of sociopolitical circumstance when making broad comparisons across geographic samples.

It takes a curfew: The effect of Covid-19 on female homicides

Gender-based violence is a global phenomenon threatening women irrespective of race, nationality, education or socio-economic status. Evidence shows that domestic violence help calls have been increasing in many countries during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the effect on female homicides, this extreme form of violence, is not clear. In this study, we analyze the effects of social distancing measures and in particular the impact of curfews on female homicides in Turkey where domestic violence and female homicides are on the rise, causing public uproar. We find that the probability that a woman is killed by an intimate partner declined by about 57 percent during the period of strict social distancing measures, and by 83.8 percent during curfews in comparison to the same period between 2014 and 2019. We do not find any impact on female homicides by other perpetrator types. We argue that the decline in female homicides is driven by physical difficulties faced by ex-partners to reach victims, especially during curfews and fewer women leaving current partners due to economic hardships and fear of infection. Increased probability of getting caught might have also played a role in deterring deadly crimes against women.

A State-Level Analysis of Gender Inequality on Male and Female Homicide

Inequalities have received a fair amount of study from criminologists interested in homicide and crime. The vast majority of the examinations exploring the relationship between inequality and homicide and crime have examined income inequality. Nonetheless, feminist theorists have stated that gender inequality may be predictive of all violence, not just female victimization. The UNDP gender inequality index was replicated for states in the United States and applied to overall, male, and female homicide rates. The findings demonstrate that increased gender inequality is predictive of increased overall, male, and female homicide. These findings illustrate that gender inequality is predictive of overall, male, and female homicide victimization.

Female homicide victimisation in Mexico: a group-based trajectory and spatial study

ABSTRACT Recent literature has demonstrated that the War on Drugs policies had different consequences for different population groups. Despite this, female homicide victimisation resulting from such policies remains an underexplored subject of study. This paper examines the asymmetrical patterns of female homicides in the Mexican states that implemented the 2006 War on Drugs. A group-based trajectory analysis was undertaken, complemented by a spatial analysis in order to identify clusters with common behaviour. Our findings show that states that actively enforced the War on Drugs policy experienced higher and more concentrated levels of female homicidal victimisation.

Do Gun Policies Really Protect Women? A Cross-national Test of the Relationship between Gun Regulations and Female Homicide Victimization

Globally, firearms are the most frequent means of committing homicide with young males most likely to be victimized with guns. However, within the context of intimate partner violence and family violence, females’ risk of lethal gun violence rises significantly, supporting the need to pay more attention to firearms to reduce lethal VAW. One way to protect women from firearm violence within the private sphere is to regulate access to guns based on the risk of family violence. This study examines the extent to which gun availability and gun regulations affect lethal violence against women in a relatively large sample of countries, controlling for established structural predictors of macro-level homicide rates. We find that the civilian gun ownership rate is positively related to lethal VAW. However, background checks do not have a direct effect on female homicide rates, although domestic violence background checks are significant under certain conditions.

Temporal effects of corrected female homicide mortality estimates in Northeast Brazil

This study aimed to analyze the temporal effects (age, period, and cohort) on female homicide mortality in the states of Northeast Brazil from 1980 to 2017. This ecological time trend study used APC with a Bayesian approach and the deterministic method Integrated Nested Laplace Approximations (INLA) in the parameters' inference. The female homicide rates for each state of the Northeast were standardized by the direct method after correction of the death records for quality of information and underreporting. Data were also obtained on race/color, place of death, and means of perpetration. During the period analyzed, after correcting the death records, the Northeast region showed a mean rate of 5.40 female homicide deaths per 100,000 women, with a significant increase in all the states in the 2000s. In all the states, there was an increase in relative risk (RR) of homicide death in the second and third decades of life and a protective effect in older women. Except for the state of Sergipe, there was an increase in the risk of death in all five-year periods in the 2000s. The Northeast region as a whole and the states of Paraíba, Pernambuco, and Piauí showed a protective effect for women from older generations. There were also higher proportions of deaths in black women, homicides committed at home, and those perpetrated with firearms. The current study's findings may correlate with the spread of violence in Brazil in the 2000s and the Brazilian State's failure to protect women from violence.

Cross-National Examination of the Relationship Between Gender Equality and Female Homicide and Rape Victimization.

This study is the first cross-national work to examine the impact of gender equality on both female homicide and rape victimization. The data set from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was analyzed for 70 countries. Several gender equality measures were significantly and positively related to rape victimization, but were mostly not significant to female homicide. Findings for rape victimization were consistent with the backlash hypothesis, but such findings may be related to the limitations of police rape rates, such as different legal definitions and police-reporting behaviors across countries.

Risk factors for female and male homicidal strangulation in Johannesburg, South Africa.

There is a paucity of research on homicidal strangulation by gender. A sex-disaggregated and comparative research approach was used to investigate individual-level risk factors for female and male homicidal strangulation in Johannesburg, South Africa (2001 - 2010). Data were drawn from the National Injury Mortality Surveillance System. Logistic regressions were used to examine associations between each of the independent variables and homicidal strangulation in females and males relative to all other female and male homicides, respectively. The risk of fatal strangulation was high for both females and males aged ≥60 years, but markedly high only for male children and adolescents. Temporal risk for females was undifferentiated for day of the week, and the risk for males was high during weekdays. Females were more likely to be strangled in public places, and males in private locations. The study underlines the importance of disaggregating homicide by external cause and gender.

Consent and the ‘Rough Sex’ Defence in Rape, Murder, Manslaughter and Gross Negligence

When women die at the hands of men, a not infrequent defence is that she consented to, or initiated, the beating, strangulation and penetration which contributed to her death. While strangulation has been a typical method of killing in male on female intimate partner homicide 1 for many decades (‘thou little recognised), what has changed is men’s excuses for their violence. Excuses such as ‘She made me lose my self-control in an argument’ or ‘She was unfaithful to me’ are being supplanted by ‘She consented to rough sex’. 2 Since the dead cannot speak, nor is there any property in the dead, the defendant’s tactic of impugning the deceased’s character cannot be easily rebutted, and he, while maligning her in this way, may profit from a lighter sentence. Law reformers, politicians, academics and activists 3 are pressing for legal reform to shut down this misogyny. On 16 June 2020, during the Public Committee stage of the Domestic Abuse Bill, 4 cls 4 and 5 were approved. Clause 4, ‘No defence for consent to death’, provides ‘(1) If a person (“A”) wounds, assaults or asphyxiates another person (“B”) to whom they are personally connected as defined in section 2 of this Act causing death, it is not a defence to a prosecution that B consented to the infliction of injury. (2) Subsection (1) applies whether or not the death occurred in the course of a sadomasochistic encounter’. Clause 5, ‘No defence for consent to injury’, provides ‘(1) If a person (“A”) wounds, assaults or asphyxiates another person (“B”) to whom they are personally connected as defined in section 2 of this Act causing actual bodily harm or more serious injury, it is not a defence to a prosecution that B consented to the infliction of injury or asphyxiation. (2) Subsection (1) applies whether or not the actual bodily harm, non-fatal strangulation, or more serious injury occurred in the course of a sadomasochistic encounter’. These two new clauses would prevent the alleged consent of the victim from being used as a defence to a prosecution in intimate partner homicides and non-fatal assault which result in s 47 assault occasioning actual bodily harm, Offences Against the Person Act 1861, or more serious injury. Additional new clauses including, proposing that consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions would be required, in the case of death, to accept a charge to anything less than murder (cl 6); the requirement to consult with the family of the deceased regarding charges (cl 7); the prohibition of reference to sexual history of the deceased in domestic homicide trials (cl 10); anonymity of victims of domestic homicide (cl 11); and anonymity of domestic violence survivors (cl 14); the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Chalk), while sympathetic, said there were difficulties with the clauses in their present form. 5 Of the proposal to make non-fatal strangulation 6 (cl 8) a standalone offence, he considered that ‘creating a new offence could limit the circumstances covered, and create additional evidential burdens’. 7 These motions reflect the several debates since October 2019, when MPs, Harriet Harman and Mark Garnier, introduced the ‘No defence for consent’ amendment to the second reading of the Domestic Abuse Bill. 8 Since men also plead the ‘sexual consent defence’ on ‘first dates’, which may fall outside the definition of ‘domestic abuse’ as set out in the Bill, 9 a loophole also recognised by Alex Chalk at the Public Committee stage, 16 June 2020, this too will be addressed. 10 The murder of Grace Millane, in New Zealand 11 in 2018, murdered on a ‘first date’ provides such an example.

Gender Equality and the Usual Suspects: A Cross-National Study on Female and Male Homicide Victimization

Gender inequality is a central concept in cross-national feminist criminological literature. There is not a readily agreed-upon operationalization of gender inequality. The variation in the operationalization of gender inequality in cross-national research could be the cause for the inconsistent findings. We explored if the operationalization of gender inequality affects the association of the variables with gender-specific homicide across nations. Utilizing SUR and Wald Tests, our results indicate that measurement matters. When a measure of gender inequality includes an income competent, it has an association with gender-specific homicide. We conclude by situating our findings into the larger cross-national literature.

Intimate Partner Homicides in North Carolina: 2011-2015.

BACKGROUND Research on intimate partner homicide (IPH), when someone is killed by a current or former intimate partner, in North Carolina is limited, making it difficult to understand the magnitude of IPHs and identify strategies for prevention.METHOD We used North Carolina Violent Death Reporting System (NC-VDRS) data to assess IPHs among North Carolina residents between 2011 and 2015. Homicides were considered IPHs if intimate partner violence was identified and the victim was the suspect's current or former intimate partner. Proportions and rates of demographic characteristics and circumstances were assessed.RESULTS Of the 2,299 homicides that occurred between 2011 and 2015, 350 were IPHs (0.9 per 100,000 person-years). Most (72.3%) IPH victims were female (n = 253). Among all female homicides almost half (48.2%) were IPHs, while only 5.4% of all male homicides were IPHs. The highest rate of IPH occurred among women aged 20-44 (2.1 per 100,000 person-years). Most victims were non-Hispanic (NH) white (54.0%, n = 189), although rates for NH American Indians and NH blacks were 1.8 and 2.0 times those among NH whites respectively. Most victims, 86.6% male and 82.6% female, were the suspect's current partner. Firearms were the most common weapon used (62.6%, n = 219).LIMITATIONS NC-VDRS data are not representative of all IPHs in the United States. Circumstance data were sometimes incomplete and categories of circumstance variables restrictive, limiting available information on IPHs.CONCLUSION Future interventions focused on women aged 20-44, NH American Indian and NH Black communities, and firearm access could be effective in preventing IPHs in North Carolina.

Getting Away With Murder? A Review of the ‘Rough Sex Defence’

Several high-profile murders of women killed during alleged consensual sex ‘gone wrong’ have led to widespread calls for reform to prevent the use of what has been termed the ‘rough sex defence’. Concerns about the use of this ‘defence’ are located within broader concerns about the high rates of domestic abuse and fatal violence against women. Lobbyists, campaign groups and members of parliament have drawn attention to the increase in this ‘defence’ featuring in criminal cases in England and Wales and have consequently proposed two amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill (2020), namely a statutory prohibition of consent as a defence to actual bodily or more serious harm, including death, and introducing additional scrutiny in charging decisions by requiring the Director of Public Prosecutions to authorise charges of manslaughter (rather than murder) in cases involving rough sex/sadomasochism (SM). This article provides a critical analysis of the use of rough sex/SM in female homicide cases and proposed legal reforms and concludes that the proposed reforms would fail to capture many of the ‘rough sex’ cases that have come before the courts in recent years and may not have the intended effect. We consider potential alternative approaches.

Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in Ecuador: A Cross-Sectional Study of Population Mortality Estimates from 2001-2017

Background: Gender-based violence is a major public health concern arising from the structural discrimination of women and girls. In 2014, Ecuador criminalized acts of femicide in response to a growing crisis across the region. As no epidemiological studies on the state of femicides have been published, we estimated trends occurring between 2001 and 2017. Methods: Using data from the National Institute of Census and Statistics we estimated the annual mortality rates, cumulative incidence and relative risks for female homicides, from 2001 – 2017. The impact of aggressions, assaults and violence on years of life lost due to premature mortality was estimated using the Human Capital method. Findings: Over the period, at least 3,236 cases of female homicides were reported. The highest murder rate occurred in the province of Sucumbios (6·5 per 100,000) and in the Putumayo canton (12·5 per 100,000). The most common way to murder their victims was using firearms (38%). The highest relative risk was estimated for women aged between 25-29, at 4·5 (3·9 – 5·1), of primary school attainment at 17·2 (14·6 - 20·3) and of Afro-Ecuadoran descent 18·1 (10·5- 30·9). Femicide-related costs reached, on average, $35 million per year and more than $500 million lost from 2001 to 2017. Interpretation: The high rates, distribution and cost indicate that investments are urgently needed to address the structural causes and reduce the impact of femicides in Ecuador; thereby protecting the livelihood and well-being of their women and girls. Funding Statement: This work was funded by the Universidad de Las Americas Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: The current epidemiological study included ecological data from all reported cases of femicide, homicides and crime related deaths in Ecuador. This analysis did not contain access to any source of identifiable information. The entire dataset is anonymized and is publicly available in the following website https://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/nacimientos_y_defunciones/. According to the international good clinical and research practice and in accordance with Ecuadorian legislation on clinical investigation involving humans, ethical approval by a local or international institutional review board (IRB) is not required.