Objectives. This 11-city study sought to identify risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships.
Methods. Proxies of 220 intimate partner femicide victims identified from police or medical examiner records were interviewed, along with 343 abused control women.
Results. Preincident risk factors associated in multivariate analyses with increased risk of intimate partner femicide included perpetrator’s access to a gun and previous threat with a weapon, perpetrator’s stepchild in the home, and estrangement, especially from a controlling partner. Never living together and prior domestic violence arrest were associated with lowered risks. Significant incident factors included the victim having left for another partner and the perpetrator’s use of a gun. Other significant bivariate-level risks included stalking, forced sex, and abuse during pregnancy.
Conclusions. There are identifiable risk factors for intimate partner femicides.
- Jacquelyn C. Campbell, Phyllis Sharps, and Kathryn Laughon are with the School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. Daniel Webster, Jennifer Manganello, and Janet Schollenberger are with the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. Jane Koziol-McLain is with the School of Nursing, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand. Carolyn Rebecca Block is with the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Chicago. Doris Campbell is with the College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa. Mary Ann Curry and Nancy Glass are with the School of Nursing, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland. Faye Gary is with the College of Nursing, University of Florida, Gainesville. Judith McFarlane is with the School of Nursing, Texas Women’s University, Houston. Carolyn Sachs is with the School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles. Yvonne Ulrich is with the School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle. Susan A. Wilt is with the New York City Department of Health. Xiao Xu is with Covance Inc, Washington, DC. Victoria A. Frye is with St. Luke’s Medical Center, New York City.