Why Do Men Kill Their Pregnant Wives? A Look at the Disturbing Trend

[Nusc]

Murdering pregnant woman commonly makes headline news. It happens so often.
Would anyone care to speculate as to why men kill their pregnant wives?

Just curious.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Your question made me remember something I had read:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=522184&page=1

A study published in the March 2005 edition of the American Journal of Public Health found that homicide was a leading cause of death among pregnant women in the United States between 1991 and 1999. Data taken from the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the pregnancy-associated homicide ratio was 1.7 per 100,000 live births.

A 2001 study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association said 20 percent of Maryland women who died during pregnancy were murdered. Researchers found the same trend in New York from 1987-1991 and in the Chicago area from 1986-1989. According to the CDC, approximately 324,000 pregnant women are hurt by an intimate partner or former partner each year.

Experts say that while pregnant women are more commonly targeted by men -- particularly spouses, boyfriends or exes -- they also need to be wary of other women. Each has very different reasons for targeting expectant mothers.

Men who kill pregnant women are most likely romantically involved with their victims and see the pregnancy and unborn child as obstacles and burdens in their lives. They may not want a child, may want to pursue an extramarital affair or may want to keep an affair secret.

"The usual reason when it involves a man is the [unborn] baby. The baby is causing a complication in his life," said Pat Brown, profiler and chief executive officer of The Pat Brown Criminal Profiling Agency.

 

[Nusc]

Have an abortion?

 

[DaveC426913]

Have an abortion?

Pardon me.

Are we to interpret this comment to mean that your suggestion for women to avoid being murdered is for them to abort their unborn child?

 

[Moonbear]

Murdering pregnant woman commonly makes headline news. It happens so often.

I am more inclined to think it makes the headline news because it happens so infrequently as to be news. Define "often."

 

[MeJennifer]

Murdering pregnant woman commonly makes headline news. It happens so often.
Would anyone care to speculate as to why men kill their pregnant wives?

Just curious.

Are you implying that a pregnant women is statistically more likely to be killed by her husband than a non pregnant one?

 

[Astronuc]

Perhaps the OP is in response to the discovery Saturday in Ohio of the deceased pregnant woman, Jessie Davis (26), who was apparently murdered by her boyfriend (police officer) and father of her 2-yr old son.

And there was of course the infamous Lacy Peterson case. Her husband (Scott Peterson) began an affair about the time she was pregnant, and then apparently murdered her. Possibly in addition to loss of intimacy, he was faced with the economic burden of a child, which he apparently resented.

The numbers in the article cited by MIH, 324,000 (~8% of ~4 million births annually) pregnant women are hurt by an intimate partner or former partner each year, are very disturbing. Other numbers are even more disturbing -
http://www.endabuse.org/resources/facts/


I find the numbers stunning and heartbreaking. How can people treat other human beings in such a way?

Rather than having an abortion, the prudent action would be to avoid abusive relationships, and exercise caution in entering into intimate relationships.

 

[0TheSwerve0]

A good book on the origins, causes, and perpetuation of male violence is Demonic Males.

 

[MeJennifer]

I find the numbers stunning and heartbreaking. How can people treat other human beings in such a way?

What do you mean how?

Human beings are not like fairies doing nothing else than singing and walking barefoot through the daisies Astronuc.

"But we are all like an unclean thing, and all of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6).

 

[radou]

This is probably only one sad example of problems humans constantly experience, the roots of which are apparently too deep (or problematic, or whatever) to be dealt with in an efficient way. I believe primitivism and the lack of received love are two major ones.

 

[DaveC426913]

Are you implying that a pregnant women is statistically more likely to be killed by her husband than a non pregnant one?

I do believe that's the idea, yes.


Pregnancy is a huge stressor.

 

[MeJennifer]

I do believe that's the idea, yes.


Pregnancy is a huge stressor.

Then how about providing some statistics that demonstrate that?

 

[DaveC426913]

Then how about providing some statistics that demonstrate that?

Isn't that what MiH is doing?

It is a hot topic, and the stats are open to argument, I grant.

 

[MeJennifer]

That homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women is by itself no indication that pregnant women are more likely to be murdered than those who are not pregnant.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Isn't that what MiH is doing?

It is a hot topic, and the stats are open to argument, I grant.

It's a little hard to say. Looking at the data for women and mortality on the CDC site, homocide is not at the top of the list. The problem is that it is hard to find a comparable study restricted to women of childbearing age. The CDC statistics (I believe) include everything from infant females dying of birth defects to 90-year old grandmas dying from heart failure.
http://www.cdc.gov/women/lcod.htm

I still found the reports about the pregnant women quite stunning! It would be interesting to see how the data stacks up side by side with women in the same age range who weren't pregnant at the time of death.

 

[Astronuc]

Human beings are not like fairies doing nothing else than singing and walking barefoot through the daisies Astronuc.

I prefer going barefoot, but I try not to step on flowers.

"But we are all like an unclean thing, and all of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6).

I suppose that is one perspective.

Pregnancy is a huge stressor.

Life can be a big stressor at times. That is no excuse to hurt someone, especially when that someone has done no harm to one.

 

[DaveC426913]

That homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women is by itself no indication that pregnant women are more likely to be murdered than those who are not pregnant.

This is true. I'm not sure why you're saying it, since no one is drawing that conclusion.

I think we're stuck in a quagmire of ill-defined terms. "leading cause of death" is pretty clear but "more likely than" is a bit vague. Do we mean that, all other factors being equal, a woman who is pregnant has a higher proability of being murdered than if she is not pregnant? There are many ways to interpret that phrase. I think we may need to address that before being able to answer the OP's ?.

 

[DaveC426913]

Life can be a big stressor at times. That is no excuse to hurt someone, especially when that someone has done no harm to one.

I don't think anyone is making any excuses.

On other hand, saying "how can anyone do that" is not going to be enough to make it stop.

We need to face what our society is, not what we think it should be.

 

[MeJennifer]

I don't think anyone is making any excuses.

On other hand, saying "how can anyone do that" is not going to be enough to make it stop.

We need to face what our society is, not what we think it should be.

At least we have no one here, as of yet, blame it on the Bush administration.

I don't agree that it is a phenomenon of society, instead I think it is a phenomenon of humanity. And idealism is not going to make it disappear.

 

[Math Is Hard]

At least we have no one here, as of yet, blame it on the Bush administration.

Why would we do that?

I don't agree that it is a phenomenon of society, instead I think it is a phenomenon of humanity. And idealism is not going to make it disappear.

It's probably a naive question (I apologize) but what is the difference in a phenomenon of society and phenomenon of humanity? Are you saying we would find the exact same murder statistics for pregnant women if we looked at the current data across all cultures of the world?

 

[MeJennifer]

It's probably a naive question (I apologize) but what is the difference in a phenomenon of society and phenomenon of humanity? Are you saying we would find the exact same murder statistics for pregnant women if we looked at the current data across all cultures of the world?

Of course not exactly, but murder exists in all societies. Society is a factor but clearly not the defining factor. We happen to be a species that murders its own members, I suppose that is a genetic trait.

 

[Astronuc]

It's probably a naive question (I apologize) but what is the difference in a phenomenon of society and phenomenon of humanity? Are you saying we would find the exact same murder statistics for pregnant women if we looked at the current data across all cultures of the world?

I suppose a point could be made that homicide occurs in humanity, but it seems to occur in some cultures/socities at higher rates more than others.

I have been reading a book which relates the authors experiences in a particular part of the world. He relates two phenomenon - one landowner would essentially kidnap the daughters and sisters of peasants on his land and rape them and members of a higher economic/social class would kill/murder members of the poorest class - both with impunity. The local police or government officials simply ignore that criminal behavior.

Then there was the recent case of the Yezidi woman in Iraq who was stoned to death for having a relationship with a Muslim man. She could have been banished, but the tribe and apparently some members of the family decided she had to die.

People in the west tend to think of themselves living in a 'civilized' society, and perhaps it is to some extent. But there are also exceptions to the civilized society. In the 1960's and 1970's in Houston, there was a very high homicide rate, but it tended to occur more frequently so in certain neighborhoods than others.

I don't think anyone is making any excuses.

A poor choice of words on my part. I was reflecting on the fact that perpetrators often offer some justification or rationale for their actions.

We happen to be a species that murders its own members, I suppose that is a genetic trait.

I think it more the case that we are members of a species of which some members murder others, and sadly, those murdered are close (relationshipwise) to those who murder. There may be some genetic propensity, but perhaps the lack of nuturing or the impact of drugs or mental illness (or psychological disorder) also plays a role.

 

[russ_watters]

That homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women is by itself no indication that pregnant women are more likely to be murdered than those who are not pregnant.

The article contains an error/contradiction. It both says homicide is *a* leading cause of death for pregnant women and *the* leading cause. *The* leading cause of death would most likely still be accidents, like it is for everyone under age 40 or so.

I think the article and perhaps the study is misleading in that it implies several things that it does not contain the data to support. Providing data on non-pregnant womens' murder rates is an obvious necessity. After a little searching, I found this: http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/causes.html#data_usa

It doesn't have the exact data we are looking for except in a hard-to-read graph, but it does say that the homicide fraction of deaths among all males and females, aged 15-24 is 21.3%. That is close enough (above, actually...) to what the study is discussing to make it absolutely relevant and points to a clear flaw in the article or study that they didn't include such important control data. I don't have a high opionion of reporters, so I'm not sure if this is just errors or purposeful distortions.

 

[Mk]

And there was of course the infamous Lacy Peterson case. Her husband (Scott Peterson) began an affair about the time she was pregnant, and then apparently murdered her. Possibly in addition to loss of intimacy, he was faced with the economic burden of a child, which he apparently resented.

I think that's an interesting look at it. Why isn't male abortion discussed at all? I think it may be a woman's body, but the baby isn't soley her property. What about man's right to choose?

 

[russ_watters]

...but the baby isn't soley her property.

On what do you base that?

 

[DaveC426913]

On what do you base that?

I agree with Mk. A pregancy requires a union, thus creating a joint responsibility. While the mother may carry the child, it is not her sole property. The father has rights.

 

[JoeDawg]

I still found the reports about the pregnant women quite stunning! It would be interesting to see how the data stacks up side by side with women in the same age range who weren't pregnant at the time of death.

On an emotional level obviously its shocking, but if one looks at infanticides, and pregnancy related violence, that happen in the animal kingdom... particularly in our closest cousins, it certainly puts it all in a certain sad perspective. Even with our intellect we have all kinds of nasty primal urges just below the surface.

 

[BobG]

The article contains an error/contradiction. It both says homicide is *a* leading cause of death for pregnant women and *the* leading cause. *The* leading cause of death would most likely still be accidents, like it is for everyone under age 40 or so.

I think the article and perhaps the study is misleading in that it implies several things that it does not contain the data to support. Providing data on non-pregnant womens' murder rates is an obvious necessity. After a little searching, I found this: http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/causes.html#data_usa

It doesn't have the exact data we are looking for except in a hard-to-read graph, but it does say that the homicide fraction of deaths among all males and females, aged 15-24 is 21.3%. That is close enough (above, actually...) to what the study is discussing to make it absolutely relevant and points to a clear flaw in the article or study that they didn't include such important control data. I don't have a high opionion of reporters, so I'm not sure if this is just errors or purposeful distortions.

I agree the original article lacked the data necessary to put the statistics they gave into context.

However, the fact that the homicide percentage for pregnant women is so close to the overall homicide percentage for male-females combined implies that pregnant females are at least a little more likely to be a victim of murder than non-pregnant females since males are more likely to be a victim of violent crime than females. (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/gender.htm )

That could also just mean that a pregnant woman is less able to flee/defend herself/more vulnerable to injury/etc than a non-pregnant female. We haven't found data that compares how many pregnant women are assaulted vs non-pregnant women.

 

[Smurf]

damn. I thought we were actually going to talk about murdering pregnant women. I'd use an axe.

 

[Smurf]

A good book on the origins, causes, and perpetuation of male violence is Demonic Males.

sounds fair an unbiased.

 

[0TheSwerve0]

The title appeals to me ;)
but I found out about it thru LYN who was reading it for a class on political and social philosophy. He thought it was pretty informative and fair.