Murder of pregnant women

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Murder of pregnant women is a type of homicide often resulting from domestic violence. Domestic violence, or intimate partner violence (IPV), is suffered by many people and in the majority of cases where the victim comes forward the victim is a woman . For many of these women the fear of harm includes not just themselves but their unborn child as well. Pregnancy-associated death has become more commonly termed as pregnancy-associated homicide.^[1] Recently, more focus has been placed on pregnancy-associated deaths due to violence.^[2] IPV may begin when the victim becomes pregnant.^[3] Research has shown that abuse while pregnant is a red flag for pregnancy-associated homicide.^[4]

The murder of pregnant women represents a relatively recently studied class of murder. Limited statistics are available as there is no reliable system in place yet to track such cases.^[5] Whether pregnancy is a causal factor is hard to determine.

Statistics

The third leading cause of death for pregnant women is homicide. ABC News claim that about 20 percent of women who die during pregnancy are victims of murder.^[6] However according to the CDC "The pregnancy-associated homicide ratio was 1.7 per 100,000 live births". In other words the chances of a pregrnant women being murdered was around 0.0017%.

Isabelle Horon and Diana Cheng published a Maryland study in 2001 in the Journal of the American Medical Association which found "a pregnant or recently pregnant woman is more likely to be a victim of homicide than to die of any other cause":^[5]

[T]he killings span racial and ethnic groups. In cases whose details were known, 67 percent of women were killed with firearms. Many women were slain at home — in bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens — usually by men they knew. Husbands. Boyfriends. Lovers.^[5]

The suggestion that this is the primary cause of prenatal maternal death, however, suffers a lack of fully reliable data. Homicide was the second-leading cause of death among women ages 20 to 24 and fifth among women ages 25–34 in 1999. The top cause of death in both age groups is accidents.^[7]

In 2003, California changed its death certificate documentation to include a female victim's maternity status.^[5]

Laws and policies

The Unborn Victims of Violence Act, passed in 2004, defines a fetus as a "child in uterus" and a person as being a legal crime victim "if a fetal injury or death occurs during the commission of a federal violent crime."^[8] In the U.S., 36 states have laws with more harsh penalties if the victim is murdered while pregnant. Some of these laws defining the fetus as being a person, "for the purpose of criminal prosecution of the offender" (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2008). Laci Peterson, murdered in 2002, is one of the more high-profile homicides.

Currently in the North Carolina Senate, a bill called the SB 353 Unborn Victims of Violence Act is being considered for legislation that would create a separate criminal offense for the death of a fetus when the mother is murdered. The North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence does not support this law for numerous reasons including failure to see violence against the mother as the cause of the fetal death.^[9] The Coalition does, however, support the position of the National Network to End Domestic Violence regarding the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.^{[citation needed]}

Intervention

While it is almost impossible to determine an exact intervention point to prevent pregnancy-associated homicides, some possible opportunities can be pinpointed. The medical community is one of those points. Women may feel safe speaking to their health care providers about the abuse, especially after discovering they are pregnant. Some medical office and hospital policies specify that doctors will examine the patient privately without allowing the partner access. In a 2001 editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Victoria Frye writes, "Homicide by intimate partners may offer a focal point for effective pregnancy-associated mortality prevention efforts because many of these women come into contact with the health care system before their deaths."^[10] Reviews of Intimate Partner Homicide policy and research has identified several needs: System-wide training in healthcare on signs of domestic violence^[11] and system-wide screening for domestic violence by health care providers, as well as the knowledge of where to refer women to that need services when abuse is disclosed.^[12]

Motives

Statistics for pregnancy as being a motivating factor in the murder of a pregnant woman are unavailable at this time. Motives may vary, with a woman's pregnancy at the time of death sometimes being coincidental.

A common motive directly linked to the victim's pregnancy is to steal her unborn baby. In 2004, Bobbie Jo Stinnett died after Lisa M. Montgomery cut Stinnett's unborn daughter from her womb in an attempt to claim the baby as her own.^[13] The two met online in a dog breeding chatroom and Montgomery told Stinnett she was also pregnant. Montgomery later posed as a potential buyer of one of Stinnett's dogs and arranged to meet her. It was at that meeting that Stinnett was murdered. Montgomery then took the baby to the local hospital, claiming to have just given birth to it herself.^[14] In July 2008, Araceli Camacho Gomez was found with her hands and feet bound by yarn and massive trauma to her abdomen. Police arrested Phiengchai Sisouvanh Synhavong in connection with the case and charged her with first-degree murder. In her purse were yarn, a boxcutter, and baby items, among other items.^[15] In July 2009, Darlene Haynes was found dead in her apartment, her stomach cut open in a way consistent with the removal of a fetus.^[16]

Other notable cases include Sharon Tate, victims of the Manson Family murders, Jessie Davis, LaToyia Figueroa, Belinda Temple, Cherica Adams, and Laci Peterson.

See also

• Domestic violence

References

1. ^ Campbell, JC, Glass, N, Sharps, PW, Laughon, K, and Bloom, T (2007) Intimate Partner Homicide: Review and Implications of Research and Policy. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. (8), 246-269.
2. ^ Martin, SL, Macy, RJ, Sullivan, K, and Magee, ML (2007) Pregnancy-Associated Violent Deaths: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. (8), 135-148.
3. ^ Parker, B, McFarlane, J, and Soeken, K (1994) Abuse During Pregnancy: Effects on Maternal Complications and Birth Weight in Adult and Teenage Women. Obstet Gynecol. 323-328.
4. ^ Campbell, JC, Glass, N, Sharps, PW, Laughon, K, and Bloom, T (2007) Intimate Partner Homicide: Review and Implications of Research and Policy. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. (8), 246-269.
5. ^ ^{a b c d} St. George, Donna (December 19, 2004). "Many New or Expectant Mothers Die Violent Deaths". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10074-2004Dec18.html. 
6. ^ "Murder Is One of Top Causes of Death for Pregnant Women". ABC News. June 26, 2007. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3316485&page=1&GMA=true. 
7. ^ Curtis, Kim (April 23, 2003). "Murder: The Leading Cause of Death for Pregnant Women". Associated Press. http://www.now.org/issues/violence/043003pregnant.html. 
8. ^ Ghazaleh, S, Martin, SL, and Schiro, S (2010) Homicide Among Pregnant and Postpartum Women in the United States: A Review of the Literature. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. (11), 42-54.
9. ^ "NCCADV Position Statement: Fetal Murder Legislation". North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence. http://www.nccadv.org/pdf/2008/finalNCCADVSTATEMENTfetalmurder07.pdf. Retrieved 31 March 2011. 
10. ^ Frye, V (2001) Examining Homicide's Contribution to Pregnancy-Associated Deaths. Journal of American Medical Association. (11), 1510-11.
11. ^ Campbell, JC, Glass, N, Sharps, PW, Laughon, K, and Bloom, T (2007) Intimate Partner Homicide: Review and Implications of Research and Policy. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. (8), 246-269.
12. ^ Martin, SL, Macy, RJ, Sullivan, K, and Magee, ML (2007) Pregnancy-Associated Violent Deaths: The Role of Intimate Partner Violence. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. (8), 135-148.
13. ^ "Kansas Town Stunned By Kidnap-Murder Case". local6.com. December 19, 2004. http://www.local6.com/news/4005020/detail.html. Retrieved October 24, 2007. 
14. ^ "Bobbi Jo Stinnett Murdered for her Baby by Lisa Montgomery". Karisable.com. http://www.karisable.com/stinnett.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-24. 
15. ^ "Pregnant woman murdered, fetus stolen". Associated Press. ABC.com. July 1, 2008. http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/national_world&id=6238287. 
16. ^ "Woman killed, fetus cut from body". CNN.com. July 29, 2009. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/29/massachusetts.fetus/. 

External links

• National Conference of State Legislatures
• North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• National Network to End Domestic Violence