The majority of female killers in the US are white and live with their husbands or boyfriends.

In the United States, most women who kill their partners do so because they are being abused. The majority of these women are white and live with their husbands or boyfriends. This is according to a new study by the Crime Victims’ Institute at Sam Houston State University in Texas.

The study analysed 543 cases of women who killed their partners between 2006 and 2015. Most of these women were white (85 per cent) and had been living with their partner for an average of eight years before killing them. In all, 82 per cent were abused by their partner prior to the murder.

“We know that homicide is a crime committed overwhelmingly by men,” said Professor Larry Barton, director of the Crime Victims’ Institute. “So when we see a pattern like this where most perpetrators are female, it makes us stop and ask why.”