The States Where Women Are Most Likely To Be Murdered By Men

Tied with Tennessee at sixth in the county, Oklahoma stands at a murder rate of 1.65 per 100,000 for the year of 2013 (the most recent year for which data is available).

More women are murdered by men in South Carolina than in any other state in the nation, according to a new study released by the Violence Policy Center.

The study from the Violence Policy Center used 2013 homicide data. The most common weapon used was a gun.

Of the victims who knew their offenders, 16 victims were wives, common-law wives, ex-wives or girlfriends of the offenders. Of those, 69 percent were killed with handguns, the study found. The average age was 38, and 90 percent of the victims were killed by someone they knew.

McLaughlin said the prevalence of domestic violence in Oklahoma means public services to counsel and shelter victims are in high demand. South Carolina took the top spot in the report.

Haley’s task force, which has been meeting all year on domestic violence, issued dozens of recommendations last month, including training more 911 operators, improving documentation of the crime scene and increasing the number of shelters statewide.

South Carolina lawmakers reformed the state’s criminal domestic violence laws during the last legislative session.

“Our services are in such high demand”, she said.

The group notes that there have been reforms in the state Legislature that aim to increase accountability for offenders, provides for state law prohibitions on the possession of firearms by those who have been convicted of domestic violence and requires prevention education for students in our schools.

Women are murdered by men in this state at a rate of 2.32 per 100,000 females, a number that pushes South Carolina to first place among states with the highest rates of females killed by males.