Written by Debbie Deland, vp@flnow.org

Nine out of 10 women murdered by men in 2023 were killed by someone they knew, and nearly two thirds of these victims died by gunfire.

These disturbing facts come from the annual report When Men Murder Women, Each year, the study presents the reality of lethal violence against women and the role guns play in turning domestic violence into domestic homicide.

For 28 years, the study has aided in the implementation of policies and laws to protect women and children, spurred statewide public awareness campaigns, and supported the policy agendas of state domestic violence prevention organizations.

Among the current study’s findings:

• Nationwide, 2,412 females were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2023.

• Of the female victims who knew their male offenders, 57 percent were wives or other intimate acquaintances of their killers. Nearly nine times as many females were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers.
• Black women are disproportionately impacted by lethal violence committed by males. In 2023, Black females were murdered by males at a rate two and a half times the rate for white females murdered by males.

• Firearms were the weapons most used by males to murder females in 2023. Nationwide, for homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 65 percent of female victims were shot and killed with a gun. Of these, 64 percent were killed with a handgun.

Domestic Violence against particularly women is an epidemic here and around the world. The United States comes up woefully short on its actions to reduce domestic violence from police training, to shelters, to community services support, etc. There are twice as many pet shelters as there are women’s shelters. Domestic violence continues to rise especially with the increased focus on toxic masculinity.