American females at highest risk for murder

A female in the United States is three times more likely to be murdered than a female in Canada, five times more likely to be murdered than a female in Germany, and eight times more likely to be murdered than a female in England and Wales. The U.S. female homicide victimization rate is five times that of all the other high income countries combined. The firearm homicide rate for U.S. females is 11 times higher than that in the other high income countries. These figures come from a new study by the Harvard School of Public Health. The study found that among high income nations, the United States has the highest rate of female homicide victimization. Some 4,000 American females are murdered each year. David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center at HSPH, and lead author of the study, said: “The difference in female homicide victimization rates between the U.S. and these other industrialized nations is very large and is closely tied to levels of gun ownership. The relationship cannot be explained by differences in urbanization or income inequality.”