Lovers are the chief killers of SA women

MOSTof those who kill SA women are their husbands, boyfriends or same sex partners, a Medical Research Council (MRC) study has found.

It was carried out by MRC gender and health researcher Naeemah Abrahams. The study, giving comparative figures for 1999 and 2009, indicated an overall decrease in female homi- cides as well as for intimate female homicides, referred to as femicides.

“Intimate femicide has become the leading cause of female homicide in South Africa,” the report said.

The study also showed that rape homicides, where evidence of being raped was present, had proportionately increased.

Abrahams said yesterday that the decrease in overall figures came as no surprise because police data indicated that homicides had decreased in SA in the last 10 years.

“We expected to see the same trend in female homicides, which make us confident in our data.”

However, a comparison of all the figures indicated that intimacy homicides had declined the least.

Abrahams, pictured, said rape homicides in SA had increased in the event of a non-partner. “This tells us that we do not do a great job against violence [directed at women].” She said there had been a significant decrease in the use of firearms in female homicides in 2009.

The report indicates that the number of women killed by strangulation, stabbing or blunt force stayed the same. – Sapa