Record Number Of Women Victimized By Murderous Ex-Lovers

[Hissyspit]

http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/93068/record_number_of_women_victimized_by_murderous_ex-lovers

Record Number of Women Victimized by Murderous Ex-Lovers
By Marie Tessier, Women's eNews. Posted July 30, 2008.

Violence permeates -- or threatens -- the lives of millions of U.S. women.

For more Women's eNews, visit, www.womensenews.org.

GRAY, Maine (WOMENSENEWS) -- With groceries in her car, Jennifer Lessard apparently planned to make several quick stops after work before picking up her two school-age sons one afternoon in May. Instead, she became the 13th victim of domestic homicide in Maine this year, part of a murder trend that's on pace to exceed every other year since the state began compiling records in 1971.

In an all-too-common scenario in the United States -- where a woman's risk of being murdered by an intimate partner is highest after leaving an abusive relationship -- the 40-year-old pharmacist attempted to pick up her belongings at the home of a former boyfriend, whom she had recently left.

Lessard was found dead there, with a gunshot wound to the head. Her boyfriend was also dead, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and left a suicide note, according to state police.

Domestic violence is a leading cause of death for women ages 15-44, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. It is a leading cause of death of pregnant women, mortality research shows. And African American and Native American women are at the highest risk of intimate partner homicide.

Sexual violence is so prevalent that it touches every family in the United States, advocates say.

Estimates show that 272,000 sexual assaults against people age 12 and older occurred in 2006.

Crime Drop Benefits Men Most

Since violent crime rates peaked in the early 1990s men have benefited most from a downward trend that has left Americans safer overall.

In the three decades from 1976 to 2005, the number of men killed by female partners has dropped precipitously, from about 1,300 to 329. But homicides of women by male partners has declined far less, dropping from around 1,500 to about 1,200, figures from the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics show.

Those female homicide figures reached their lowest point of 1,155 in 2004, but climbed slightly to 1,181 in 2005, the latest year available from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The bloody trail of those deaths, along with injuries, crisscrosses the nation each year and overshadows women's daily lives.

MORE AT LINK

[UndertheOcean]

1. Lets outlow possessive love then , mental illness and phsycopathy

that would solve the problem.

[Captain Hilts]

2. I'm grateful we live in a post-sexism society!

Oops! I guess we don't...

[aspergris]

3. two points

1) while male as victims of intimate homicides showed a greater decline than women as victims of intimate homicides, male homicide victims still VASTLY outnumer female homicide victims
2) it is true that many women are assaulted or killed when doing as the above women did by returning to the house to pick stuff up etc. after leaving a relationship. DON'T DO IT. CAll for a "civil standby". I've done dozens of these (for mostly women, but men too) and the cops can help quell any possibility of disturbance or violence. better to be safe.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

7. If you want to start your own thread about male homicide, feel free to do so.

This thread is about women being murdered by partners or ex-partners. Thanks.

[Scout]

14. oh c'mon cat, you know EVERYTHING is always about men, silly silly n/t

[EOTE]

20. Is there a problem with offering constructive advice?

As horrible as this situation is, it does sound like requesting police assistance could go quite a ways toward decreasing the violence of these situations. These men are obviously bat-shit insane and sometimes force is the only thing that they understand.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

21. Yes there is.

It's blaming the victim, for one thing. Plus, it's very easy for someone to say "oh don't go back and get your stuff" but you might need that "stuff" to, for example, go to work to support yourself and your children. What if one of the things you left behind was a beloved cat or dog? Is the woman supposed to leave the animal there so that her violent and vindictive ex can torture or kill the poor thing? It happens.

Furthermore, the joker I responded to didn't just offer constructive advice. He also found it necessary to whine about how we weren't paying proper attention to male victims of homicide. That is the typical behavior of an MRA. If you don't know what that is, look it up.

[EOTE]

22. It's NOT blaming the victim.

Would you say it's blaming the victim to suggest to someone to wear a bullet proof vest before going into a war zone? It's the same thing when you suggest that a woman bring a police escort when going back to the house of a possessive asshole. And no one was suggesting that they don't go back and get their stuff. The poster said to get the stuff while accompanied by a police officer. I'm sure the women in the OP sure wish that they could be blamed as the victim rather than dead as they are now. You may think it's demeaning, but I'd rather they have a smidge less dignity than be dead.

And the poster you responded to wasn't whining, he was noting that men still make the bulk of homicide victims today. Something that seems at odds with the title of the article (which is flat out wrong and misleading). And frankly, I find the assertion that that is considered "whining" to be extremely offensive. And no, I won't bother to look up MRA. If you'd like to tell me what one is, you're more than welcome to.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

23. The poster is being a whiner.

Crying "b..b..but what about the men??" whenever the subject of something that affects women is raised. It's indicative of an entitled attitude. The OP was about domestic violence victims. You and your MRA buddy aspergris are more than welcome to go start your own thread about how men make up the majority of homicide victims (by other men). As for getting that "police escort" to get your things, good luck with that.

[EOTE]

24. Wow, what a despicable attitude.

Someone posts something with the aim of SAVING LIVES and you call it whining. I guess I'll be reluctant to offer advice to help others in the future for fear that I'll get an ass like yourself who'll accuse me of being a whiner. I guess you WOULD prefer that those women get murdered rather than accept the help of an evil man-beast. And btw, I'm not buddies with aspergris, thank you very much. I just thought it was extremely rude for him to be attacked after providing good, common sense advice. I think I'll stay away from making a thread about how the great bulk of homicide victims are men, you'd probably crash the thread and say that all the male homicide victims deserved to die and how only violence against women should stop.

[Withywindle]

8. Hmmm, true, but...

male homicide victims still VASTLY outnumer female homicide victims


And what is the ratio of male homicide PERPETRATORS to female? The overwhelming majority of female homicide victims are killed by men. The overwhelming majority of male homicide victims are ALSO killed by men.

[Skittles]

4. why don't they just LEAVE them

gawd when I hear that simplistic shit from people who have no idea of the dynamics involved

[Name removed]

6. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Loudmxr]

5. The difference between the genders

As I tried to explain to people why me and my mom's friend Stacey (council member former mayor) got caught with drugs and holding weapons and ammo in reach of her children. BAD BF.
The difference is:
Women do stupid things for men.
Men KILL over women.

Simple. :banghead:

[RadiationTherapy]

9. All people need anger/emotional management training.

This is a result of low self esteem, entitlement and lack of coping skills.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. The body contradicts the headline.

:shrug:

[mrreowwr_kittty]

11. I guess they mean that the latest figures are a record since the lowest point

Or that the editor didn't read the article carefully enough.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. The homicide rate for women is at a record low, according to the article.

So I'm guessing the author and the editor are being deliberately misleading.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

18. I agree that the title is misleading

But the point of the article is that women being killed by intimate partners had a much lower rate of decrease than all other types.

[BuelahWitch]

12. A local progressive activist was murdered this month by her ex boyfriend

http://www.wiretapmag.org/blogs/sex/43624

A brilliant young woman lost to us forever. :cry:

[Blue_Tires]

15. wow...i went to KU and i'm very saddened to read this

[MellowDem]

16. This isn't surprising...

considering that men are more prone to murder. That's why most men and women who are murdered are killed by... men. I'm not sure how much of this reflects societal sexism, given that it's hard to distinguish and contradicts the fact that men kill many more men than women. I'm guessing that lack of mental care, poverty and desperate conditions account for most of these murders, not sexism. And poverty is something we've seen a rise in the last couple of years, not to mention a criminal lack of health care, including mental health care. This accounts for why the figures are highest for African and Native Americans.

Provide good mental health care to all Americans and expand educational opportunities and poverty-fighting programs and I'm guessing this figure would fall.

[Breeze54]

17. This is terrifying and I wish men would stop their possessive craplola!!

Gheeze.... :banghead:

Hey guys? If it's over, it's over!!!

You can't force someone to love you!!

Please pass the word to all your male friends.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

19. Yet you notice how Hollywood churns out dozens of "Fatal Attraction" type movies

Where it's the woman who's the raging possessive psychopath. I'd say Jealous Psycho Female characters outnumber their male counterparts in movies at least 3:1. But here you have actual statistics telling a very different story.

[Breeze54]

25. And women are most likely the victims of abuse too....

...or rape or murder, kidnapping, etc. in the "entertainment" media. Violence towards women
in the movies, TV shows and music seems to be increasing exponentially. :grr: