South Carolina ranked one of the deadliest states for women

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - South Carolina is once again ranking among the nation’s deadliest states for women.

According to the Violence Policy Center’s When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2016 Homicide Data report, South Carolina is sixth for its rate of women killed by men.

Data from 2016 shows that 48 women were murdered by men in South Carolina. South Carolina has been in the top 10 of this list for the last two decades.

“The presence of a firearm can turn domestic violence into domestic homicide. When men murder women, the most common weapon used is a gun,” the VPC says. “More than 90 percent of women murdered by men are killed by someone they know.”

Here are some additional statistics from the study on national domestic violence numbers:

• Nationwide, 1,809 females were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2016, at a rate of 1.20 per 100,000. Of the 1,809 female homicide victims, 1,188 were white, 517 were black, 55 were Asian or Pacific Islander, 26 were American Indian or Alaskan Native, and in 23 cases the race of the victim was not identified.
• Nine out of 10 victims knew their offenders. Of the victims who knew their offenders, 63 percent were wives or other intimate acquaintances of their killers. Thirteen times as many females were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers.
• Black women are disproportionately impacted by lethal domestic violence. In 2016, black females were murdered by men at a rate of 2.62 per 100,000, more than twice the rate of 1.03 per 100,000 for white women murdered by men.
• Firearms were the weapons most commonly used by males to murder females in 2016. Nationwide, for homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 56 percent of female victims were shot and killed with a gun. Of the homicides committed with guns, 66 percent were killed with handguns.
• The overwhelming majority of these homicides were not related to any other felony crime, such as rape or robbery. Nationwide, for homicides in which the circumstances could be identified, 82 percent of the homicides were not related to the commission of another felony. Most often, females were killed by males in the course of an argument between the victim and the offender. 

To see the entire study and learn more about their findings, click here.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, know you are not alone. If you need help, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233 or the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault at (803)-256-2900.

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