Just how dangerous are affairs? Finding the violence statistics regarding affairs is often hard to do. Affairs are not always noted in crime reports.IN fact, they’re rarely noted.
The number of women murdered in 2012 was 1,487. When women are murdered, “62 percent (924 out of 1,487) were wives, common-law wives, ex-wives, or girlfriends of the offenders (page 5).” This means that you have a slightly higher chance of being killed by your spouse than by a stranger. Strangers only killed 107 of the 1,487 murder victims.
It was also interesting seeing which States were more dangerous:
Number of Female Homicide Victims/Homicide Rate per 100,000 Females
1 Alaska 9/ 2.57
2 South Carolina 50 /2.06
3 Oklahoma 39/ 2.03
4 Louisiana 45 /1.92
5 Mississippi 29 /1.89
6 Nevada 25 /1.83
7 Missouri 53 /1.73
8 Arizona 56/ 1.70
9 Georgia 84 /1.66
10 Tennessee 53 /1.60
When it came to race and murder, there were also some noteworthy findings:
“Overall, black females were murdered by males at a rate (2.46 per 100,000) nearly two and a half times higher than white females (1.00 per 100,000). American Indian and Alaskan Native females (0.98 per 100,000) were murdered by male offenders at nearly the same rate as white females, while Asian and Pacific Islander females were the least likely (0.74 per 100,000) females of any race to be murdered by a male offender. Unfortunately, Hispanic ethnicity could not be determined on a national level because of the inadequacy of data collection and reporting.”
One study looked at television portrayals of murder. The study found “56 percent of deaths on television were male characters, and 44 percent women.” A closer look at the female deaths show “24 percent being straight white women and that 26 percent were minorities.” Hollywood portrayals are very different than actual crime statistics where black females are double the risk of white females of being murdered.
So, where you live and your race has bearing on the likelihood of murder occurring or not occurring related to an affair. Some people react more violently than others to news of an affair.
When violence occurred, it was connected to arguments happening at the time. The report put out by the center doesn’t address affairs specifically or what the arguments were about.
Given that affairs often lead to arguments, in my mind, having an affair definitely puts you at risk for the potential of violence. The more affairs, the more arguments, the greater the risk of violence.
In most cases, nothing as extreme as murder occurs. Although statistically, the risk of murder is low, you have to ask yourself “Is it worth the risk?”
Would your fly an airline that only has a 5% chance of crashing?
Would you want electrical service that only works 95% of the time?
Would you shop at stores knowing there is a 5% chance of being mugged?
In all likelihood, you want to be safe 100% of the time. You want your planes to fly safely, your cars to start, your electricity to turn on, etc. The only way you can have close to the 100% safety in your home is by not having an affair.
The report goes on to demonize guns as the problem, while ignoring whatever caused the arguments leading to violence in the first place. (This is not unusual since most ‘reports’ are paid for by political groups that have an agenda and use the data to promote their agenda.
The report addresses the use of knives, blunt force, etc. ). As a counselor, my interest is in the relationship dynamics. The topics that could produce the kinds of arguments that get out of hand, rather than the objects of violence.
It remains clear to me that affairs put you at risk. The risk is small in terms of numbers, but for me, any risk is one I would rather not have.
It is useful to examine the crime statistics and see for yourself what the risks are.
Best Regards,
Jeff
