LatinaLista — Latinas with abusive, jealous novios, ex-novios (boyfriends) or husbands be warned — you have a higher than likely chance of dying at the hands of that guy who says he loves you with his fists or verbal punches.
So reports a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC found that homicide is the leading cause of death for women ages 18-44. In 2015, 3,519 girls and women were murdered. In those cases, almost half of the victims were killed by a current or ex “male intimate partner.”
Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women were found to have the highest rates of homicide, with over 50 percent of all homicides attributed to intimate partner violence or IPV.
Though white, black, Latina, American Indian, Alaskan Native, or Asian/Pacific Islander women (the seven racial/ethnic groups the CDC studied) had common experiences, there are several things that distinguish the Latina ‘IPV-homicide’ experience:
- Latina homicide victims are overrepresented in the age range of 18-29.
- Latina homicide victims were more likely (30%) to have argued with their killer before being murdered.
- Of the 12 percent of IPV-related homicides attributed to jealousy, Latina homicide victims were more likely than other groups to die at the hands of someone enraged with this emotion.
The news may be discouraging but the findings underscore an opportunity for the community-at-large. At the least, the report creates awareness of the signs that could lead to murder.
At the most, it offers opportunity to have programs in place like counseling, mental health services and healthy relationship courses when intervention becomes necessary to save the life of a girl or woman before it’s too late.
