Title: Debunking Myths About Gender, Race and Murder | Psychology Today
Headings: Debunking Myths About Gender, Race and Murder
Scott A. Bonn Ph.D.
Debunking Myths About Gender, Race and Murder
Reality is not what you might think.

Content: The data reveal that females are almost six times more likely than males to be killed by an intimate partner. In contrast, nearly 60 percent of male murder victims were killed by an acquaintance and approximately 25 percent were murdered by a stranger. The same data reveal that female victims were involved in nearly 64 percent of all intimate killings and 82 percent of all sex -related killings. Finally, male victims accounted for 90 percent of drug-related homicides and 95 percent of gang-related homicides between 1980 and 2008. Neither drug- or gang-related homicides typically involve intimates which helps to explain why the vast majority of victims in such cases are males. There is an old and pervasive myth which contends that women simply do not commit murder. This myth is based on traditional gender norms or expectations of behavior which include the idea that females are too passive and sweet to kill someone. article continues after advertisement
In reality, women do kill—albeit at much lower rates than men. The data over the years reveal that one in 10 murders is committed by a woman. For example, a total of 666,160 people were killed in the U.S. between 1960 and 1996, and approximately 90 percent of those murders were committed by males.