Убийство жены: причины и статистика

Act of killing one's wife or girlfriend

Uxoricide (from Latin uxor meaning "wife" and cide, from caedere meaning "to cut, to kill") is the killing of one's own wife. It can refer to the act itself or the person who carries it out. It can also be used in the context of the killing of one's own girlfriend. The killing of a husband or boyfriend is called mariticide.

Though overall rates of spousal violence and homicide in the US have declined since the 1970s, FBI data from the mid 1970s to mid 1980s found that for every 100 husbands who killed their wives in the United States, about 75 women killed their husbands. and St. Louis. Uxoricide rates varied among different demographic subgroups. In the US, 2002 murderers of spouses (husband and wives combined) were 69.4% white, 25.7% black and 4.8% Asian/Pacific Islander and 0.1 American Indian/ Alaska Native. In the region of South East Asia, 55% of all murdered women died at the hands of their partner, followed by 40% in the African region and 38% in the Americas. A 2013 study found that 38.6% of murders of women are committed by intimate partners. Rates of uxoricide seem to fluctuate across western cultures, with approximately seven women being killed per month in England and Wales, approximately four women per month in Australia, and approximately 76 women per month in the United States. Note that these data come from different years and represent raw data, having neither been adjusted for nor indexed by country population.

Proponents of psychodynamic theories have offered explanations for the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of uxoricide. It has been suggested that men who kill their partners experience both an unconscious dependence on their wife and a resentment of her. These men wish to leave the relationship, but unknowingly perceive themselves as too helpless to do so, which culminates into a belief that killing the wife is the only way to be free of her. This approach also offers an alternative explanation for instances where a man commits uxoricide and subsequent immediate suicide – the man ends his life not due to guilt, but instead due to his perceived helplessness and dependency.

Links have also been established between violence in childhood and likelihood of uxoricide occurring. Psychodynamic researchers argue that being the victim of abuse in childhood leads to being a perpetrator of domestic abuse in adulthood via the route of defence mechanisms – in this case, violence is an unconscious defensive adaption to childhood trauma and other adverse events. Other psychodynamic researchers have reported that Thematic Apperception Tests reveal significant trends of rejection by a mother or wife in men who commit uxoricide. Psychoanalytic dream interpretation has also argued that unconscious conflict manifests into violent outbursts. For example, in one instance one man had experienced and recorded over 200 distressing, mostly violent dreams prior to murdering his wife.

In slightly more than two thirds of US spousal homicides, a verbal disagreement escalated to homicide.

In two studies conducted in Canada and Britain, cohabiting women were found at greater risk of domestic violence and uxoricide than married women. Research has found that cohabiting women are nine times more likely to be killed by their intimate partner than married women. A number of possible reasons for this finding have been studied. Cohabiting women are more likely to be younger, have a lower level of education and are more likely to bring children from a previous relationship into their home with their new intimate partner. In addition to this heightened risk to a mother with stepchildren, the genetically unrelated stepfather also poses a risk to the child; research has shown that children are at much greater risk of violence and filicide (murder of a child) from stepfathers compared to a genetic father. This may be because investment from a stepfather reduces reproductive benefits. Research has found that the presence of stepchildren can significantly increase the risk of uxoricide for women. A large number of filicides are accompanied by uxoricide and suicide. Additionally, cohabiting relationships have higher separation rates and males in these types of relationships may not feel in control of their intimate partners and may feel threatened by male sexual competitors. Research has found that a large proportion of uxoricide cases follow on from the male believing that his female intimate partner has been unfaithful or the female partner attempting to end the relationship. Research has shown that females often experience increased abuse following the termination of a relationship. An Australian study found that of a sample of uxoricide cases, 47% of women were murdered by their male intimate partner within two months of separating. Sexual jealousy may be a possible reason for this heightened risk following separation.

Another risk factor for uxoricide is estrangement. Women who choose to leave their partner are at higher risk of spousal homicide. The male is more likely to kill his mate before she has had the chance to form a new relationship with another man as he fears she will then devote her reproductive resources to a male rival's offspring. Therefore, by killing his partner he will avoid the reputational damage associated with intrasexual competition and will eliminate the chances of another man having access to a high value mate. This also explains why those women who have had children from a previous relationship are at higher risk of spousal homicide compared with those who have only had children with their current partner. The female partner has already devoted her reproductive resources to another man, therefore when she establishes a new relationship, the male becomes involved in the upbringing of another man's offspring which will damage his hierarchical status amongst intrasexual rivals. A woman's fertility decreases as she gets older, therefore, age is key indicator of reproductive success. As a result, a man will place high levels of importance on a mate with greater reproductive value. "Hands on" refers to more violent methods such as using weapons, drowning, stabbing and strangling. Other facilitating cultural norms include discriminatory family laws and articles in the criminal code which display leniency towards honor killings. In Turkey, it has been reported that little social stigma is attached to honor killings, and around 37% of those living in conservative areas believe that adulterous women should be killed. These attitudes favouring honor killings have also been echoed amongst children and adults in Jordan and India. In Uruguay, until 2017 crimes of passion related to adultery were tolerated under Article 36 of the Penal Code (The passion provoked by adultery) – Artículo 36. (La pasión provocada por el adulterio). On 22 December 2017, Article 36 of the Criminal Code was modified to remove the crime of passion. There had been ongoing political efforts to remove this provision from the criminal code since 2013. Uruguay has a very high rate of killing of women; according to a 2018 United Nations study, Uruguay has the second highest rate of killings of women by current or former partners in Latin America, after the Dominican Republic. Uxoricide can also be prevalent in countries where honor killings are not considered acceptable. In South Africa, for example, as many as five women are estimated to be killed each week by an intimate partner. It has been suggested that this high rate of uxoricide is a result of the prevalence of violence in South African society, and how it is deemed socially acceptable in many circumstances – conservative attitudes towards women in this society have been suggested to facilitate uxoricide. Studies conducted in Italy exhibit similar findings, reporting that a man's cultural values concerning the position of women in society links to his likelihood of committing uxoricide.

When a parent kills another parent, children experience significant trauma. The other parent is likely to be in prison or may have committed suicide and therefore, the child will go through significant loss. The child has lost not only one parent but has also lost the other parent who would have helped and supported them through this loss. This type of extreme traumatic event can have serious implications for a child's wellbeing and mental health.

In the famous fairy tale "Bluebeard", written by Charles Perrault, the title character murders several of his wives. The titular character in William Shakespeare's Othello murders his wife, Desdemona, due to the belief that she had committed adultery. In the same play, antagonist Iago murders his wife Emilia when she exposes his crimes. Possibly the most well known and greatest number of acts of uxoricide has to be by King Shahryar in "One Thousand and One Nights" who takes a new virgin wife every night and has her beheaded in the morning. Depending on the version read, between one thousand and many thousands of wives lose their lives after one night.