Uxoricide (from Latin uxor meaning "wife" and -cide, from caedere meaning "to cut, to kill") is the killing of one's own wife. It can refer to the act itself or the person who carries it out. It can also be used in the context of the killing of one's own girlfriend. The killing of a husband is called mariticide. Rates of uxoricide Though overall rates of spousal violence and homicide in the US have declined since the 1970s, rates of uxoricide are significantly higher than rates of mariticide (the murder of a husband). Of the 2340 deaths at the hands of intimate partners in the US in 2007, female victims made up 70%. FBI data from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s found that for every 100 husbands who killed their wives in the United States, about 75 women killed their husbands. However, wives were more likely to kill their husbands than vice versa in some US cities including Chicago, Detroit, Houston, and St. Louis. Uxoricide rates varied among different demographic subgroups. In the US, 2002 murderers of spouses (husband and wives combined) were 69.4% white, 25.7% black and 4.8% Asian/Pacific Islander and 0.1 American Indian/ Alaska Native. In the region of South-East Asia, 55% of all murdered women died at the hands of their partner, followed by 40% in the African region and 38% in the Americas. A 2013 study found that 38.6% of murders of women are committed by intimate partners. Rates of uxoricide seem to fluctuate across western cultures, with approximately seven women being killed per month in England and Wales, approximately four women per month in Australia, and approximately 76 women per month in the United States. Note that these data come from different years and represent raw data, having neither been adjusted for nor indexed by country population. Psychodynamic explanations Unconscious conflict Proponents of psychodynamic theories have offered explanations for the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of uxoricide. It has been suggested that men who kill their partners experience both an unconscious dependence on their wife and a resentment of her. These men wish to leave the relationship, but unknowingly perceive themselves as too helpless to do so, which culminates into a belief that killing the wife is the only way to be free of her. This approach also offers an alternative explanation for instances where a man commits uxoricide and subsequent immediate suicide – the man ends