Why women kill

Experience of domestic violence is at the heart of why many women are driven to commit violent crimes

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The number of women globally who commit violent crimes is very small – in 2021 they were responsible for just 10% of homicides. Indeed, women are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators. But when women do kill, in many cases the victim is a male partner or family member and there is a history of domestic abuse.

Data and research suggests the majority of women on death row around the world have been sentenced to death for the crime of murder, and that most of these were committed in the context of gender-based violence. Women kill to save themselves – only to face abuse and death again.