Characteristics, incidence, and trends of intimate partner homicides in Massachusetts: Patterns by birthplace, race, and ethnicity

This study compared the incidence rates of intimate partner homicide (IPH) in Massachusetts by place of birth and race/ethnicity. The analysis involved 340 IPH victim cases between 1994 and 2014. Victims were just under 40 years of age, on average, and most were female (85%), White (67%), and killed by stabbing (34.4%) or firearms (33%). The incidence of IPH victims ranged from 1.3 to 5.6 cases per million people per year between 1994 and 2014 (M = 2.4 per million). Foreign-born individuals had 1.9-fold higher IPH incidence rates of victims relative to U.S.-born individuals. The incidence of IPH-suicide victims was also significantly higher among foreign-born (M = 1.2 per million) relative to U.S.-born individuals (M = 0.4 per million). Furthermore, minority racial/ethnic groups had significantly high incidence rates of victims, with highest incidence of IPH among Blacks. In the full sample there was a 1.9% decline in the incidence of IPH victims per year, which was not statistically significant. The findings highlight the need for culturally specific prevention and intervention strategies to address risks of IPHs and IPH-suicides among diverse groups, particularly among groups most at-risk in Massachusetts such as foreign-born born individuals and racial and ethnic minorities.