Once again I heard the phrase, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” In reality, men seem to have a harder time handling rejection. Although there are indications that homicide by strangers is increasing and homicide by intimates is decreasing, (why, I wonder? What does it mean?) here are the facts.

From the U.S. Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004 (the most recent they had):

Percent of homicide victims by Intimate:
Male, 5.3%. Female. 30.1%.

Percent of homicide victims by Spouse:
Male, 3.2. Female, 18.4.

Percent of homicide victims by Ex-spouse:
Male, 0.2. Female, 1.4.

Percent of homicide victims by Boyfriend/Girlfriend:
Male, 1.9, Female, 10.3.

From the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, 2005:

Total murder victims: 14,860
Husband: 135
Wife: 594

Actually, we don’t know the motivation for these murders, whether it was rejection or some other issue. All we can say really, is that men get murderously furious more often than women. I wonder if there is data by gender for restraining orders? That might provide a better indication about which gender has more of a problem accepting a break-up.