The US Department of Justice has compiled these statistics. What can be done to decrease these numbers?

Question

In recent years -

About one third of female murder victims were killed by an intimate.


About 3% of male murder victims were killed by an intimate.


Of all female murder victims, the proportion killed by an intimate has been increasing.

Please do not answer by telling me that males are also victimized as well. I am aware of this but that only serves to cloud the original question. Let's try and stay focused.

When any group is targeted with violence it impacts negatively on all of society.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/intimate/victims.htm

Answer 1

For the sake of this discussion, I will assume that these intimate murders were not an isolated case of violence against the women. That being the case, I would suggest that people close to women in suspected abusive relationships need to step up and do what they can to eliminate the danger from their friends'/daughters' lives. Too often, we know of an emotionally or physically abusive relationship, and we stay quiet. The victim is, frequently, isolated from their loved ones by the abuser, as it facilitates his purpose much more easily. This is when family and friends need to step in. We all need to recognize that the judgement of the victim is badly blurred, and that is the time that she needs the most help. Turning a blind eye only helps the abuser...and it may lead to murder.

Answer 2

Remember the old saying? "Lies. Damned Lies. And Statistics"? Do these figures also show the proportional breakdown of 'same gender' perpetrators, or are generalizations used.The Fact of the matter is that the murder rate in the U.S.of A. is increasing exponentially with the vast majority of victims being Male.
Personally, I believe that there needs to be far more attention placed upon Mental Health issues as they appertain to social/cultural interaction. But where does One start to revamp an entire civilization? How do We, as a society, eradicate something which is endemic, systemic and inculcated within the very fiber of Humanity. I refer, of course, to people's propensity towards solving problem situations with gratuitous violence. Re-education? Harsher penalties? Brain washing?
We have both seen the effects of violence, haven't We? And what have We been able to do? Patch the victims up and send Them home. Too bad the Politicians are not being brutalized in Their homes. Then You might see a change for the better.

Answer 3

Those stats are ill-chosen.

Since more murder victims are male, it makes the difference look bigger than it is. It would be less misleading to cite the actual numbers of men and women killed by intimates.

In fact, the way you phrased the question, a way to reduce the first statistic would be for more women to be murdered by strangers.

See what I mean about a poor choice of statistics?

The point would be to reduce the NUMBER of murders of all types.

Reducing the number of women murdered by intimates is one way to do that. (I mean, if you're murdered by a stranger, you're just as dead, so the method I mentioned wouldn't really be an improvement.)

I think that we are doing things to reduce these numbers. We are MUCH MORE LIKELY than we've ever been in the past to help women escape abusive relationships, and especially to get psychological help for their children, so they are less likely, when they grow up, to repeat the pattern. This second thing simply wasn't part of the plan until really recently (my lifetime).

It will take a while for any difference to be seen, of course, but I think it's a very solid way of going about reducing murder-by-"loved one".

Answer 4

In my opinion, I believe that schools should have classes on self esteem, building self worth. The part of the population of women that are being murdered, I believe, would be shown to lack self worth and being as such, are more likely to be in a relationship where violence may occur.
The men that do the killing are also lacking in self respect, or self worth.
From what I understand, children who are growing up in a bad environment would have grades and/or personality traits that could show up if schools were looking specifically for them. From reviewing a child's school history, there would be signs that there were problems that need to be addressed. Everything boils down to the fact that if you can feel good about the person you are, you can be happy and wouldn't allow yourself to stay in an unhealthy relationship. Thus, the percentage of these crimes would be reduced.

Answer 5

I would tend to think that those statistics are a bit biased by the fact that more men are murdered each year than women (80% of murder victims are men according to the article I've linked below).

So I suppose that working to decrease violence in general would be the way to help this situation. Far too many men are being murdered.

Answer 6

dispel the myth of the evil stranger. This society thrives on the idea that the person that will do us harm will be someone we don't know. Parents still tell children to stay away from strangers when anyone who has seen any of these statistics can tell you they are more likely to be harmed by someone they know (the link has been posted by another answerer)

While we are training society to realize you are more likely to be injured by a SO than a complete stranger it wouldn't hurt to alsy train people on basic self-defense.

Answer 7

As much as I disagree with his tactics, asta has a point, can you provide the source of these statistics?

EDIT: Thanks for the link, very interesting.

It reminds me of the 95% of all rape victims are at the very least acquaintances with their attacker, with only 5% being victims of a strangers attack stat (Laumann, 'The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States", University Chicago Press, 1994)

I suppose it depends on your view of violence theory. I'm personally of the 'Power & Control' school of thought, but to each their own.

From the power and control perspective, these statistics illustrate that within the intimate setting, it is in the minds of attackers more 'acceptable' to commit an act of violence against an intimate than a stranger, perhaps (IMO) because there is often much less risk of being brought to justice. (Obviously I am referring to domestic violence, not homicide)

Other ways of looking at it, are from the comedic perspective (though not to imply that any form of violence is acceptable, and/or 'funny') I think Chris Rock said it best when he joked that 'You have not been truly in love until you have seriously contemplated killing your partner'

Psychologically, he makes a strong point. Within our most intimate, and thereby passionate, relationships, we often lose our bearings as to how far our emotions take us. We are also obviously more likely to scream and yell insults at an intimate than a stranger. It's much more socially acceptable to 'lose our tempers' (no intention of minimalizing violence) in the intimate setting of the home, than it is in say public or professional settings.

That being said, it seems that on the extreme side of the spectrum, (violence, rape, murder) it would be in the mind of the attacker, more acceptable to commit an act against an intimate than a stranger.

In answer to your question, I think that breaking away from our long held American ideals of 'what is in the family stays in the family' and 'personal privacy' (to an extent) would help to quill these incidences. Teach children at young ages, both in and outside of the home, that not only is it unacceptable to exhibit extreme anger and violence in the public social realm, but also on the nuclear intimate level. Violence is not, and should never be deemed a 'private' issue.

Great question, thanks again for the link.

EDIT: Steve,

"AVOID potential murderers, and do not ever chose them as intimate associates."

That is exactly the kind of 'blame the victim' mentality the anti-feminists love to prey on. As if the women murdered are supposed to somehow be psychic and intuitivly 'know' who is or is not going to murder them. and if not? 'oh well, you shoulda known better'. ugh.

" People are either capable of murder or they are not."

There are so many things wrong with the statement I do not even know where to begin. EVERYONE is capable of commiting a violent or heinous act. Whether we ACT on it is reflected in our values or even our upbringing to an extent, our sense of conscience, of right and wrong. But to assume that there are people who are 'incapable' of doing something? wow, just wow. I'm starting to wonder about your religious background, that sounds an awful lot like predestination negating free-will Mr. Puritan.

Deleted, lol and I'm supposed to be the coward.

Answer 8

This is a troublesome trend. While, I have not done my research and required studies to find a correlation for this, I believe that these statistics indicate that domestic violence programs are underfunded and failing to reach those who need help most. The most dangerous time for any woman in an abusive relationship is when she begins to empower herself and tries to leave.

Answer 9

omigOD theSe answErs!!
the world is in a mess
there are haters, and baitors and traitors
and there's no happiness
slap that bass

answer: how about good o'l "consciousness raising" to start

Answer 10

If I were you I wouldnt be worried about being murdered. How can you kill someone who didnt have a life to begin with?

Btw, this serves as an excellent idea for my next question...