Search Here

In the United States, numerous violent incident with suspects using guns has already taken numerous lives. What's more alarming is the fact that a number of cases of domestic violence involve guns. According to statistics, women are more likely to be shot dead by the hands of their partner than being killed in any other way by a total stranger.

A study, conducted by Professor Susan B. Sorenson of the University of Pennsylvania, investigates the nature, frequency, and outcome of the incident was a weapon was used during a reported case of intimate partner violence.

Professor Sorenson specifically determined the number of instances where the gun was used as the weapon during a reported case of domestic violence compared to other types of weapon and how all types of objects can be used as a weapon in inflicting harm towards women.

In collaboration with the Philadelphia Police Department, the study analyzed data from 35,413 reported cases of domestic violence from 2013. These data were taken from the mandated forms police are required to complete at the scene of an intimate partner violence incident. The study is currently published in the Journal of Women's Health.

The results of the study found that out of the 35,413 cases of domestic violence, 6,573 involved the use of feet, hands, and/or fists to inflict damage. A total of 1,866 incidents of intimate partner violence involved the use of weapons, of which 576 were guns. The study also found that 63.4 percent of the reported cases of domestic violence involved male-on-female violence.

In reported incidents of domestic violence involving the use of guns, the perpetrators are less likely to inflict physical harm on the victims. Although victims are less likely to have visible evidence of physical injuries, they are more likely to be frightened.

Professor Sorenson explains that when a gun enters an incidence of domestic violence, the victim, most likely a woman, will most likely back down from a fight. This is because people know that guns can cause fatal damage. Involving other types of weapon, women are most likely to take a chance to fight.