Photo by Donna Ferrato in the series Living with the Enemy S. C. is Ranked only behind Nevada in women being killed by men.

Violence Policy Center Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, "These findings alarmingly demonstrate how domestic violence can escalate to homicide. More resources need to be made available to protect women and prevent such tragedies."

Nationwide, 1,836 females were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents in 2006. Where weapon use could be determined, firearms were the most common weapon used by males to murder females (907 of 1,675 homicides or 54 percent). Of these, 73 percent (666 of 907) were committed with handguns. In cases where it could be determined if the victim knew her killer, 92 percent of female victims (1,572 out of 1,701) were murdered by someone they knew. Of these, 60 percent (949 out of 1,572) were wives or intimate acquaintances of their killers. More than 12 times as many females were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers. In 88 percent of all incidents where the circumstances could be determined, the homicides were not related to the commission of any other felony, such as rape or robbery.