State ranks 11th in rate of women killed by men

Oklahoma ranks 11th in the nation in the rate of women killed by men, according to a study released Tuesday.

Thirty-one women were killed by men in Oklahoma in single-victim, single-offender incidents in 2016, a homicide rate of 1.57 per 100,000 females.

Oklahoma’s overall ranking worsened slightly from last year's report, when the state ranked 15th in the nation. In the four years prior, Oklahoma ranked among the 10 worst states.

The report, called “When Men Murder Women,” is produced each year by the Violence Policy Center, a national nonprofit organization that works to stop gun death and injury through research, education and advocacy.

This year’s report examined homicides from 2016, the most recent year for which data is available.

It only includes homicides involving one female victim and one male perpetrator.

Oklahoma has consistently ranked high in the annual report. During the 10-year period from 2006 to 2016, Oklahoma was always among the 20 worst states in the nation, sometimes ranking as high as third or fourth.

Nationally, the rate of women murdered by men in single-victim, single-offender incidents declined from 1.57 per 100,000 women in 1996 to 1.20 per 100,000 women in 2016, a decrease of 24 percent. However, since reaching a low of 1.08 in 2014, the rate has increased during each of the two following years, according to the Violence Policy Center.

Black women were killed by males at a rate of 2.62 per 100,000, which is more than twice as high as the rate for white females, which was 1.03 per 100,000, according to the report.

For 2016 homicides in which the victim and offender’s relationship could be identified, 93 percent of victims were killed by a male they knew, according to the report. For cases in which the weapon could be identified, 56 percent of females were shot and killed with guns.

Angela Beatty, senior director of domestic violence victim services at YWCA Oklahoma City, said it’s concerning that Oklahoma climbed several spots higher in the rankings from the year before.

“We continue to have this trend in the state where domestic violence is a problem in our communities,” Beatty said. “It’s unfortunate that we kind of regressed.”

Domestic violence service providers have repeatedly said that domestic violence requires a collaborative community response.

“It is a huge problem in our community,” Beatty said. “We need to address these issues early on.”

Highlighting what healthy relationships and boundaries and communication look like in middle school and high school can start to help turn the tide in the state, she said. She said there also needs to be more critical funding for domestic violence victim programs and prevention efforts. The Oklahoma Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, a group that identifies and reviews domestic violence-related homicides in the state, has found that a majority of victims killed never accessed services at a certified agency, Beatty said.

“Funneling funding for these kinds of things is essential because domestic violence does affect so many other things,” Beatty said. “It affects mental health. It affects things like education and school performance. … It affects juvenile delinquency. It affects people’s need for other kinds of social services and so if we’re able to address domestic violence or violence in homes, then there could be much less need for so many other services that the state spends money on.”

Candida Manion, executive director of the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, said Oklahoma has a problem with addressing domestic violence.

“We do have good laws on the books, but it’s the implementation of the laws where we have concerns,” she said.

Offenders have to be held accountable for their first offense, Manion said.

“If they’re not held accountable, they go on to commit those crimes again,” she said.

Last week, hundreds of service providers, victim advocates, law enforcement officers, attorneys, child welfare workers and others gathered in Norman for a two-day conference called the Partners for Change Conference on Domestic and Sexual Violence and Stalking. Those who attended were able to network, discuss emerging issues and gain valuable resources and education to help bolster the response to domestic violence and sexual assault statewide.

During a keynote address, Dr. Bill Smock, a police surgeon and forensic expert who directs the clinical forensic medicine program for the Louisville Metro Police Department, said there is some magic happening in Oklahoma. He praised several programs and initiatives in the Sooner State, including Palomar, Oklahoma City’s family justice center, which Smock called “one of the shining examples of what a community can do.”

Palomar provides free, confidential help to survivors of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, trafficking and elder abuse.