A new report counted how many women were killed by men in the United States last year. The number is 2,381. In almost every one of those cases, it was one man and one woman. No other victims. No other crime happening at the same time.

The group behind the count is the Violence Policy Center. They call the study "When Men Murder Women." This is the 29th year they have run it. This time they used the newest FBI crime data, from 2024.

Guns did most of the killing. Out of the women who died, 63 percent were shot. That is about two out of every three. Most of those guns were handguns. Back in 2011, guns were used in about half of these murders. Now it is nearly two thirds. The report also points out a wider problem with guns. For every one shooting ruled self defense in 2024, guns were used in 31 other killings that were ruled crimes.

Almost every woman knew the man who killed her. The report says 87 percent of victims knew their killer. He was not a stranger hiding in the dark. He was a husband. A boyfriend. An ex. More than half of the women who knew their killer were his wife or girlfriend, current or former. Out of more than 2,000 cases where police knew the relationship, only 272 women were killed by a stranger.

Most of these killings did not happen during a robbery or some other crime. They happened during fights. Nine out of ten cases had no other felony attached at all. Most of those started as an argument, not a break in gone wrong.

Age did not spare anyone. The average woman killed was 41 years old. Kids and teens made up 7 percent of victims. Women 65 and older made up about 14 percent. This problem touches every age group, not just one.

Black women are dying at a much higher rate than other women. The report says Black women were killed at 2.9 per every 100,000. White women were killed at 1.2 per every 100,000. That means Black women died at more than double the rate. Black women make up 14 percent of all women in the country. But they made up 30 percent of the women killed by men. Guns were used even more often against Black victims, in about 77 percent of those cases.

Kristen Rand helps run the Violence Policy Center. She said this about the numbers: "Lethal violence against women by men is a national crisis with a particularly devastating impact on Black women."

Readers here in South Texas may want to know how Texas stacks up against other states. For 25 years, this report ranked every state by how many women were murdered there. This year, there is no ranking at all. The report says the FBI changed how it collects crime data a few years back. Too many states still are not sending clean numbers under the new system. Until that gets fixed, no state, including Texas, gets an official rank in this study.

That means Rio Grande Valley families do not get a clear answer this year on where Texas lands. But the national numbers still matter here. Women in Texas face the same risks the report lays out for the rest of the country. Most are killed by a man they know. Most are killed with a gun. Most of it starts as an argument, not a random attack by a stranger.

The report is aimed at lawmakers and police departments, not just readers. The Violence Policy Center wants more money spent on stopping domestic violence before it turns deadly. That means more funding for shelters, faster action on protective orders, and stronger background checks before gun sales.

One thing to keep in mind. The report only counts cases with one killer and one victim. It does not count mass shootings or killings with more than one victim at the same scene. The real number of women killed by men last year is likely higher than what this study can show.