Intimate Partner and Domestic Violence Homicides*: Sex Differences April 2012 – March 2015 (3 years)

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Domestic Homicide or Intimate Partner Homicide?

The ONS defines domestic homicide as including the following: spouse, cohabiting partner, boyfriends/girlfriend, ex-spouse/ex-co-habiting partner, ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, adulterous relationship, lover’s spouse and emotional-rival as well as son/daughter, parent (including step and adopted relationships), which is broader than the generally understood partner or ex-partner to more closely align with the government definition of domestic violence.

Intimate partner homicides are a subset of this and are committed by cohabiting partner, boyfriends/girlfriend, ex-spouse/ex-co-habiting partner, ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, adulterous relationship, lover’s spouse and/or emotional-rival.

Domestic Violence – Who gets killed?

DV who.JPG

More women than men are killed in the context of ‘domestic homicide’, 315 women in 3 years compared to 117 men. Women were 73% of all victims of domestic violence homicide, men were 27% of all victims of domestic violence homicide.

Domestic Violence – Who gets killed by whom?

DV who by whom

Women killed in the context of ‘domestic  homicide’ are more likely than men to be killed by members of the opposite sex: Of the 315 female victims of ‘domestic  homicide’, 304 (97%) were killed by men. Of the 117 male victims of ‘domestic homicide’, 37 (32%) were killed by women

Domestic Violence -Who kills?

DV who kills

Intimate Partner Violence – Who gets killed?

IPV who

More women than men are killed by a partner/ex-partner, 243 women in 3 years compared to 60 men. Women were 80% of all victims of intimate partner homicide (243/303), men were 20% of all victims of intimate partner homicide (60/303)

Intimate Partner Violence – Who kills?

IPV who kills.JPG

Intimate Partner Violence – Who gets killed by whom?

IPV who by whom.JPG

Men killed by current or ex-intimate partners  are more likely than women to have been killed by someone of the same sex. Of the 60 male victims of intimate partner homicide, 27 (45%) were killed by men, 33 (55%) were killed by women. Of the 243 female victims of intimate partner homicide, 2 (1%) were killed by women, 241 (99%) were killed by men.

Of those killed in the context of intimate partner homicide by someone of the opposite sex, women were 88% (241/274) of victims, men were 12% (33/274), i.e. women are more than 7 times more likely to be  killed by a man, than men are by a women in the context of intimate partner homicide.

 

*Homicide  –   In England and Wales homicide is constituted of two offences: murder and manslaughter.  Murder is committed when a person (or persons) of sound mind unlawfully kills someone and had the intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm.  There are three exceptions which can make a killing manslaughter rather than murder: that there was intent but a partial defence applies, that there was not intent but  there was gross negligence and risk of death, or thirdly, that there was no intent but conduct that was an unlawful act which involved danger and resulted in death. 
Data from Office for National Statistics (2016) Focus on Violence Crime and Sexual Offences. London. Office for National Statistics

12 thoughts on “Intimate Partner and Domestic Violence Homicides*: Sex Differences April 2012 – March 2015 (3 years)”

  1. Pingback: When a Man Kills a Woman

    • Sorry my reply is so late Rani.
      I started trying to capture race and ethnicity (and also professions) when I started but whether or not articles referred to it was inconsistent that i couldn’t find the info for most cases. Guessing via names was too open to error and subjectivity etc etc too. Photos aren’t always available either (and although i can’t measure this because of the reasons above, I’m petty sure BME women are less likely to have a photo and/or be reported in national media. So in the end, I’ve had to stick to variables that are almost always reported. I just couldn’t get the information.
      We’re trying with the femicide census though.
      Karen

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  4. This is really useful, careful analysis. Thanks so much. I’m going to use it in teaching Sociology and Criminology students on my Intimate Partner Violence module (will properly acknowledge the source, of course!) as part of helping them navigate the mis/information about ‘who does what to whom’ in intimate partnerships.

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  6. Pingback: What gives males the ‘right’ to treat women & girls as lesser beings? | m.holleran's blog

  7. Important and informative. Thank you!

    Just two notes – the graph for Intimate Partner Violence – Who gets killed? looks wrong. It does not look like an 80/20 split. It looks more like a 70/30 (or so) split.

    And the text on Domestic Violence – Who gets killed by whom? is a little off – the first category says Women killed by men 304/15 – 70%. I assume the 304/15 is a typo.

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