While the United States has a woman running for the president, the situation of women is not same all over the country.
According to the News Star, the review research by the Violence Policy Center showed women are not secure in the state of Louisiana. The annual report “When Men Murder Women” was published in Sep. and said Louisiana grabs the first runner up position after Alaska in the rate of women murdered by men.
The study by showed that in Louisiana, 94 percent of the women murdered were killed by someone they knew.
It gets worse: 73 percent of those were killed by a husband, common-law husband, ex-husband or boyfriend.
Louisiana has a females murdered by males homicide rate of 2.15 per 100,000 which is double the national average.
Pamela Saulsberry, a social work professor, finds it the information about Louisiana women disturbing.
“I sometime assume that we have moved a long way, but the report makes us feel that we still have a long way to go,” Saulsberry said.
Saulsberry believes that traditional mind sets and considering women to be a second class citizen is the main reason for the problem.
“People tend to be in disagreement with people they know. When someone feels that they are losing control, they tend to lose control which is tragic,” Saulsberry said.
Saulsberry feels that a change in attitude and mindset can uplift the situation of women.
“Sometimes you have to alter your thinking. For women to recognize themselves, they have to learn what the indicators of violence are and be alert.”
In a response to the news, Beth Meeks, executive director of Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence said “We have a significant lack of safety resources for domestic violence survivors in Louisiana.”
Meeks added that the laws were not implemented well in Louisiana, and the proper implementation will have an impact on homicide rate in Louisiana.
Melanie Prudhomme, a ULM alumna who works for domestic violence victims, said the police need to be more involved in cases like this before it is too late.
“This report makes me scared,” Prudhomme said.
Though Louisiana’s numbers are high, the United States average has decreased.
The center has published the report for almost two decades and it shows the number of women murdered by men has dropped 31 percent nationwide from 1996 to 2014.
