Article: Louisiana women get murdered at highest rate in the U.S.

By Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Times-Picayune
September 22, 2009, 12:00PM
More women get murdered by men in Louisiana than anywhere else in the United States, according to a new report by the Violence Policy Center.
While the national rate of women being murdered by men stands at 1.30 per 100,000, Louisiana’s rate in 2007 was 2.53 per 100,000, highest in the nation, the report says. In second was Alaska with a rate of 2.44 per 100,000, and in third place was Wyoming at 2.33 per 100,000.
The report drew its information from the FBI’s unpublished Supplementary Homicide report. The most recent data available is from 2007.
That year, men killed 57 women in Louisiana. Seven victims were less than 18 years old. Four victims were 65 years of age or older. The victims’ average age was 36, according to the report.
Thirty-four of the victims died from gunshot wounds. Six were stabbed or cut to death; two were clubbed to death; and six were beaten to death.
"These findings alarmingly demonstrate how domestic violence can escalate to homicide," the center’s Legislative Director Kristen Rand said in a news release. "More resources need to be made available to protect women and prevent such tragedies."