Homicide is the most severe health outcome of violence against women. Findings from this study on female homicide data from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) during 2003–2014 indicate that young women, particularly racial/ethnic minority women, were disproportionately affected. Across all racial/ethnic groups of women, over half of female homicides for which circumstances were known were intimate partner violence-related, with more than 90% of these women being killed by their current or former intimate partner.
The racial/ethnic differences in female homicide underscore the importance of targeting prevention and intervention efforts to populations at disproportionately high risk. Addressing violence will require an integrated response that considers the influence of larger community and societal factors that make violence more likely to occur.
