Murder of Pregnant Women

Murder Of Pregnant Women

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. Recently, more focus has been placed on pregnancy-associated deaths due to violence. IPV may begin when the victim becomes pregnant. Research has shown that abuse while pregnant is a red flag for pregnancy-associated homicide.

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. Whether pregnancy is a causal factor is hard to determine.