Abstract
There is consensus that intimate partner homicide (IPH) is a gender crime and that it is one of the most extreme forms of violence. This study aims to identify the differences and similarities between men and women who committed IPH. Data were collected from 75 criminal cases: 12 homicides perpetrated by women against men and 63 by men against women. At the individual level, homicidal women and men showed previous criminal records, substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. The intimate relationships were similar: regarding its duration, they were underway at the time of the IPH, they had a history of previous separations and reconciliations, and also, they had history of abusive dynamics. Regarding the modus operandi of IPH, the victims were mainly killed in the house of the victim and/or the aggressor, usually with a white armour weapon or a firearm and under the influence of substances. Nevertheless, there were specific differentiating factors. Men who committed murder were described as the primary aggressors (79%), while the women who committed murder (46%) were previously documented as victims of intimate partner violence. Attempted suicide/suicide after the homicide was proven in 38% of the IPH offender men, with no women having committed or attempted suicide. The time elapsed between the homicide and the judicial sentence was six times higher for women, and the length of imprisonment was on average three times higher for men. Most of the men were convicted of first-degree murder, while the women were mostly convicted of second-degree murder. Practical implications of the results are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abrahams, N., Mathews, S., Martin, L. J., Lombard, C., & Jewkes, R. (2013). Intimate partner femicide in South Africa in 1999 and 2009. PLoS Medicine, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001412.
Aizer, A., & Bó, P. D. (2009). Love, hate and murder: commitment devices in violent relationships. Journal of Public Economics, 93(3–4), 412–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2008.09.011.
Aldridge, M., & Browne, K. (2003). Perpetrators of spousal homicide: a review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 4(3), 265–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838003004003005.
Almeida, I. (2012). Avaliação de Risco de Femicídio: Poder e Controlo nas Dinâmicas das Relações Íntimas. (Doctoral Dissertation, ISCTE - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa). Retrieved from https://repositorio.iscte-iul.pt/bitstream/10071/5893/4/PhD_Iris_Almeida.pdf.
Banks, L., Crandall, C., Sklar, D., & Bauer, M. (2008). A comparison of intimate partner homicide to intimate partner homicide-suicide. Violence Against Female, 14(9), 1065–1078. https://doi.org/10.1177//1077801208321983.
Barraclough, B., & Harris, E. (2002). Suicide preceded by murder: the epidemiology of homicide–suicide in England and Wales 1988–92. Psychological Medicine, 32(4), 577–584. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291702005500.
Belfrage, H., & Rying, M. (2004). Characteristics of spousal homicide perpetrators: a study of all cases of spousal homicide in Sweden 1990-1999. Criminal behaviour and Maletal health, 14(2), 121–133 Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15188020.
Beyer, K., Layde, P., Hamberger, L., & Laud, P. (2015). Does neighborhood environment differentiate intimate partner femicide from other femicides? Violence Against Female, 21(1), 49–64. https://doi.org/10.1177//1077801214564075.
Bossarte, R., Simon, T., & Barker, L. (2006). Characteristics of homicide followed by suicide incidents in multiple states, 2003–04. Injury Prevention, 12(2), ii33–ii38.
Botelho, M., & Gonçalves, R. (2016). Why do people kill? A critical review of the literature on factors associated with homicide. Agression and Violent Behavior, 26, 9–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2015.11.001.
Bower, E. (2011). The rehabilitation of partner-violent male. West Sussex: Wiley.
Buteau, J., Lesage, A., & Kiely, M. (1993). Homicide followed by suicide: a Quebec case series, 1988–1990. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 1. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674379303800805.
Caman, S., Howner, K., Kristiansson, M., & Sturup, J. (2016). Differentiating male and female intimate partner homicide perpetrators: a study of social, criminological and clinical factors. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 15(1), 26–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/14999013.2015.1134723.
Caman, S., Kristiansson, M., Granath, S., & Sturup, J. (2017). Trends in rates and characteristics of intimate partner homicides between 1990 and 2013. Journal of Criminal Justice, 49, 14–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2017.01.002.
Campbell, J. C., Glass, N., Sharps, P. W., Laughon, K., & Bloom, T. (2007). Intimate partner homicide: review and implications of research and policy. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 8(3), 246–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838007303505.
Campbell, J. C., Webster, D., Koziol-McLain, J., Block, C., Campbell, D., Curry, M. A., et al. (2003). Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: results from a multisite case control study. American Journal of Public Health, 93(7), 1089–1097. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.93.7.1089.
Campbell, J., Webster, D., & Glass, N. (2009). The danger assessment: validation of a lethality risk assessment instrument for intimate partner femicide. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(4), 653–674 Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23138090_The_Danger_Assessmalet_Validation_of_a_Lethality_Risk_Assessmalet_Instrumalet_for_Intimate_Partner_Femicide.
Capaldi, D., Knoble, N., Shortt, J., & Kim, H. (2012). A systematic review of risk factors for intimate partner violence. Partner Abuse, 3(2), 231–280. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.3.2.231.
Casimiro, C. (2002). Representações sociais da violência conjugal. Análise Social, XXXVII(163), 603–630 Retrieved from http://analisesocial.ics.ul.pt/documentos/1218733193N7lLR3rn1Yd68RN0.pdf.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Preventing intimate partner violence. Division of Violence Preventio: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/IPV-Factsheet.pdf.
Cerejo, D. (2014). Viver sobrevivendo: Emoções e dinâmicas socioculturais nos processos de manutenção das relações violenta. (Doctoral Dissertation, Faculdade de Ciencias Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa). Retrieved from https://run.unl.pt/handle/10362/14101.
CNPDPCJ. (2019). Relatório Anual de Avaliação da Atividade das CPCJ 2019. Lisboa: Comissão Nacional de Promoção dos Direitos e Proteção das Crianças e Jovens.
Company, A., & Soria, M. (2016). La violencia en la escena del crimale en homicidios en la pareja. Anuario de Psicología Jurídica, 26, 13–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apj.2015.09.001.
Council of Europe (2011). Convenção do Conselho da Europa para a Prevenção e o Combate à Violência Contra as Mulheres e a Violência Doméstica. Retrieved from www.coe.int/conventionviolence.
Cunha, O. (2013). Perpetradores de violência em relações de intimidade: Da caracterização à intervenção. (Doctoral Dissertation, Escola de Psicologia da Universidade do Minho). Retrieved from http://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/handle/1822/34474.
Cunha, O., & Gonçalves, R. (2016). Predictors of intimate partner homicide in a sample of Portuguese male domestic offenders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516662304.
Daly, M., & Wilson, M. (1988). Evolutionary social psychology and family homicide. Science, 242(487), 519–524. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3175672.
DeJong, C., Pizarro, J., & McGarrell. (2011). Can situational and structural factors differentiate between intimate partner and “other” homicide? Journal of Family Violence, 26, 365–376. https://doi.org/10.1007//s10896-011-9371-7.
Dobash, R. E., & Dobash, R. P. (2015). When male murder female. Oxford University Press.
Dobash, R. P., & Dobash, R. E. (2012). Who died? The murder of collaterals related to intimate partner conflict. Violence Against Female, 18(6), 662–671. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801212453984.
Dobash, R., Dobash, R., Cavanagh, K., & Lewis, R. (2004). Not an ordinary killer; just an ordinary guy: when male murder an intimate female partner. Violence Against Female, 10(6), 577–605. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801204265015.
Doerner, J. (2012). Gender disparities in sentencing departures: an examination of U.S. Federal Courts. Women & Criminal Justice, 22, 176–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2012.687953.
Edelstein, A. (2016). Intimate partner jealousy and femicide among former Ethiopians in Israel. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X16652453.
Eriksson, L., & Mazerolle, P. (2013). A general strain theory of intimate partner homicide. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18(5), 462–470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2013.07.002.
Esquivel-Santoveña, E., Lambert, T., & Hamel, J. (2013). Partner abuse worldwide. Partner Abuse, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.4.1.e14.
European Institute for Gender Equality (2014). Estimating the costs of gender-based violence in the European Union: Report. European Institute for Gender Equality. Retrieved from https://eige.europa.eu/rdc/eige-publications/estimating-costs-gender-based-violence-european-union-report.
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2014). Violence against female: an EU-wide survey - main results. Retirado de https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2014/violence-against-female-eu-wide-survey-main-results-report.
Fong, W., Pan, C., Lee, J., Lee, T., & Hwa, H. (2016). Adult femicide victims in forensic autopsy in Taiwan: a 10-year retrospective study. Forensic Science International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.05.008.
FRA—European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. (2014). Violence against women: An EU wide survey. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
Gomes, C., Fernando, P., Ribeiro, T., Oliveira, O., & Duarte, M. (2016). Violência doméstica: estudo avaliativo das decisões judiciais. Lisboa: Comissão para a Cidadania e a Igualdade de Género.
Gonçalves, M., & Matos, M. (2016). Cultural competence in intervention with immigrants: a comparative analysis between health professionals, social workers and police officers. Acta Médica Portuguesa, 29(10), 629–638. https://doi.org/10.20344/amp.7121.
Goussinsky, R., & Yassour-Borochowitz, D. (2012). “I killed her, but I never laid a finger on her” — a phenomenological difference between wife-killing and wife-battering. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(6), 553–564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2012.07.009.
Jeffries, S., Fletcher, G., & Newbold, G. (2003). Pathways to sex-based differentiation in criminal court sentencing. Criminology, 41(2), 329–353. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2003.tb00990.x.
Johnson, H., & Hotton, T. (2003). Losing control: homicide. Homicide studies: an interdisciplinary & international journal, 7(1).
Karbeyaz, K., Yetiş̇, Y., Güneş, A., & Şiṁşek, Ü. (2018). Intimate partner femicide in Eskisehir, Turkey 25 years analysis. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 60, 56–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2018.10.002.
Kim, B., Gerber, J., & Kim, Y. (2018). Does the victim–offender relationship matter? Exploring the sentencing of female homicide offenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(4), 898–914. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X16667573.
Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., McCullars, A., & Misra, T. (2012). Motivations for male and female’s intimate partner violence perpetration: a comprehensive review. Partner Abuse, 3(4), 429–468. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.3.4.429.
Logan, J., Ertl, A., & Bossarte, R. (2019). Correlates of intimate partner homicide among male suicide decedents with known intimate partner problems. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 49(6), 1693–1706. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12567.
Machado, A. (2016). Intimate partner violence against male: from characteristics to their meanings (doctoral dissertation, Universidade do Minho).
Manita, C. (2008). Programas de intervenção em agressores de violência conjugal: intervenção psicológica e prevenção da violência doméstica. Ousar integrar: revista de reinserção social e prova, 1, 21–32 Retrived from https://sigarra.up.pt/fpceup/pt/pub_geral.pub_view?pi_pub_base_id=87954.
Matos, M., Machado, A., Santos, A., & Machado, C. (2012). Intervenção em grupo com vítimas de violência doméstica: Uma revisão da sua eficácia. Análise Psicológica, XXX(1-2), 79–91 Retrieved from http://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/handle/1822/30943.
McFarlane, J., Campbell, J., Sharps, P., & Watson, K. (2002). Abuse during pregnancy and femicide: urgent implications for female’s health. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 100(1), 27–36.
Mogalakwe, M. (2006). The use of documentary research methods. African Sociological Review, 1, 221–230. https://doi.org/10.1353/eas.0.0006.
Pais, E. (2010). Rupturas violentas da conjugalidade: O homicídio conjugal em Portugal. Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda.
Salari, S. (2007). Patterns of intimate partner homicide suicide in later life: strategies for prevention. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 22(3), 441–452 Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2685270/.
Saltzman, L., Fanslow, L., McMahon, P., & Shelley, G. (1999). Intimate partner violence surveillance uniform definitions and recommended data elements version 1.0. Georgia: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Atlanta Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246518092_Intimate_Partner_Violence_Surveillance_Uniform_Definitions_and_Recommaleded_Data_Elemalets.
Sartin, R., Hansen, D., & Huss, M. (2006). Domestic violence treatment response and recidivism: a review and implications for the study of family violence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 11(5), 425–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2005.12.002.
Sebire, J. (2013). Love and lethal violence: an analysis of intimate partner homicides committed in London 1998–2009. (Doctoral Dissertation. University of Leicester).
Shackelford, T. (2001). Cohabitation, marriage, and murder: female-killing by male romantic partners. Aggressive Behavior, 27, 284–291 Retrieved from http://www.forumdafamilia.com/arquivo/cohabitionmarriagemurder.pdf.
Shuler, C. (2010). Male victims of intimate partner violence in the United States: an examination of the review of literature through the critical theoretical perspective. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, 5(1), 163–173 Retrieved from http://www.sascv.org/ijcjs/pdfs/carolettaijcjs2010vol5iss1.pdf.
Ministério da Administração Interna [MAI]. (2014). Relatório Anual de Segurança Interna 2014. Retrieved from https://www.parlamaleto.pt/Documalets/XIILEG/Abril_2015/relatorioseginterna2014.pdf.
Ministério da Administração Interna [MAI]. (2015). Relatório Anual de Segurança Interna 2015. Retrieved from https://www.otsh.mai.gov.pt/wp-content/uploads/REC-RASI_2015.pdf.
Ministério da Administração Interna [MAI]. (2016). Relatório Anual de Segurança Interna 2016. Retrieved from https://www.otsh.mai.gov.pt/wp-content/uploads/REC-RASI_2016.pdf.
Ministério da Administração Interna [MAI]. (2017). Relatório Anual de Segurança Interna 2017. Retrieved from https://www.portugal.gov.pt/download-ficheiros/ficheiro.aspx?v=9f0d7743-7d45-40f3-8cf2-e448600f3af6.
Ministério da Administração Interna [MAI]. (2018). Relatório Anual de Segurança Interna 2018. Retrieved from https://www.otsh.mai.gov.pt/wp-content/uploads/RASI-2018.pdf.
Ministério da Administração Interna [MAI]. (2019). Relatório Anual de Segurança Interna 2019. Retrieved from https://www.portugal.gov.pt/download-ficheiros/ficheiro.aspx?v=19cabc8c-e3f1-4cb2-a491-a10c8a3e4bf0&fbclid=IwAR2yB7v3E9A_VWaWzbh5-5RZaBUUOLtlidveita8OurnBZklu241n708YtE
Smucker, S., Kerber, R. E., & Cook, P. J. (2018). Suicide and additional homicides associated with intimate partner homicide: North Carolina 2004–2013. Journal of Urban Health, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-018-0252-8.
Stockl, H., Devries, K., Rotstein, A., Abrahams, N., Campbell, J., Watts, C., & Moreno, C. G. (2013). The global prevalence of intimate partner homicide: a systematic review. Lancet, 382(9895), 859–865. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(13)61030-2.
Swatt, M. L., & He, N. P. (2006). Exploring the difference between male and female intimate partner. Homicide Studies: An Interdisciplinary & International Journal, 10(4).
Thapar-Björkert, S., & Morgan, K. J. (2010). But sometimes I think . . . they put themselves in the situation: Exploring blame and responsibility in interpersonal violence. Violence Against Women, 16, 32–59.
Toprak, S., & Ersoy, G. (2017). Femicide in Turkey between 2000 and 2010. PLoS One, 12(8), e0182409. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182409.
UNODC (2018). Global study on homicide: Gender-related killing of female and girls. Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Vatnar, S., & Bjørkly, S. (2013). Lethal intimate partner violence: an interactional perspective on female’s perceptions of lethal incidents. Violence and Victims, 28(5), 772–789.
Vatnar, S., Friestad, C., & Bjorkly, S. (2018). Differences in intimate partner homicides perpetrated by male and female: evidence from a Norwegian national 22-yar cohort. Psychology, Crime & Law. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2018.1438433.
Virtanen, S., & Savinen, H. (2017). Changes in the gendered nature of homicides: Comparing 20th- and 21st-century Finland. European Journal of Criminology, 14(4), 451–466. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370816669170.
Weizmann-Henelius, G., Grönroos, M., Putkonen, H., Eronen, M., Lindberg, N., & Häkkänen-Nyholm, H. (2012). Gender-specific risk factors for intimate partner homicide – a nationwide register-based study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27(8), 1519–1539. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260511425793.
Wharton, C. (2006). Documalet analysis. The SAGE Dictionary of Social Research Methods. SAGE Publications.
Whittle, M., & Hall, G. (2018). The use of alcohol and/or drugs in intimate partner homicide: themes in judges’ sentencing remarks. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 8719, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2017.1418145.
Wilson, H. (2005). Gender differences in characteristics of intimate partner homicide offenders. (Master’s Thesis, University of Central Florida). Retrieved from https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1516&context=etd
World Health Organization (2010). Preventing intimate partner and sexual violence against female: taking action and generating evidence. Geneva. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/publications/violence/9789241564007_eng.pdf.
World Health Organization. (2014). Relatório mundial sobre a prevenção da violencia. São Paulo. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/44350/3/9789275716359_por.pdf?ua=.
Funding
This study was partially conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (UID/PSI/01662/2019), through the national funds (PIDDAC).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Matias, A., Gonçalves, M., Soeiro, C. et al. Intimate Partner Homicide in Portugal: What Are the (As)Symmetries Between Men and Women?. Eur J Crim Policy Res 27, 471–494 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-020-09469-w
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-020-09469-w