These numbers are deadly

COEUR d'ALENE - Idaho ranked seventh in the nation for its rate of women murdered by men in 2011, according to a new national report.

The study specifically covers homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender, using data from the FBI's unpublished supplementary homicide report. It's the latest available data.

The report was released to coincide with domestic violence awareness month in October.

Nationwide, 1,707 females were murdered by males in single-victim-single-offender incidents in 2011. That's a nationwide rate of 1.17 homicides per 100,000 females, compared with Idaho's rate of 1.77.

Idaho's neighbors ranked lower, including Washington which had a rate of 1.02, Montana at 0.81, and Oregon at 1.13.

The study results don't surprise Susan Koerner, who is a domestic violence victims' advocate - among other duties - for the Kootenai County prosecutor's office. She believes Idaho's ranking is fair.

"Our area has some of the highest rates of domestic violence in the state of Idaho, which also has very high rates of domestic violence," Koerner said.

"Thankfully there have not been many murders, (but) we have had many cases of attempted strangulation which are very serious and could lead to death," Koerner said.

Idaho had 14 female homicide victims (in single-victim-single-offender cases) in 2011, while Washington had 35, Montana had four and Oregon had 22.

"There is still a culture in our state that this is just a family problem and the government doesn't need to be involved in these situations," Koerner said. "Idaho has been greatly affected by the recession and women have not been calling in to report early incidents of domestic violence. They are waiting until their injuries can be life-threatening to make a call to law enforcement or the local shelter."

Nationwide, for homicides in which the victim-to-offender relationship could be identified, 94 percent of female victims were murdered by a male they knew.

For the homicides in Idaho in which the weapon used could be identified, 75 percent were committed with guns, and 93 percent (13 out of 14) of the women were murdered by someone they knew.

One of those murders was committed by Joseph Herrera in St. Maries on Christmas day 2011. He shot and killed his girlfriend, 18-year-old Stefanie Comack, during an argument.

The recent report was completed by the Violence Policy Center, in Washington, D.C. The center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury.

"The sad reality is that women are nearly always murdered by someone they know," Kristen Rand, the center's legislative director, said in a news release.

"Nine women each week are shot to death by their husband or intimate partner," said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

South Carolina topped the center's list with 2.54 murders of females by males per 100,000 females. Alaska had a rate of 2.01, and Oklahoma was at 1.99, for second and third, respectively, on the list.