Family violence murders have left more than 100 children without parents, SA-led research shows

MURDERS resulting from family violence have left more than 100 Australian children without parents, South Australian-led research shows.

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MURDERS resulting from family violence have left more than 100 Australian children without parents, South Australian-led research shows.

The deaths of 152 people, mostly women, at the hands of an intimate partner or former partner left 107 children without one or both of their parents in the four years to 2014.

Another two women were killed while they were pregnant and one woman was pregnant when she killed her abusive partner, according to a report released yesterday by a network of researchers.

The work was led by Heidi Ehrat, who is based in the SA Coroner’s office. Of the 152 deaths the report examines, 10 occurred in SA.

The report also shows:

THE youngest woman killed by a partner was aged 16.

IN 13 cases a couple had been together for less than a year before a woman’s murder.

LEAVING a relationship is a dangerous time for women, as 20 of the female victims had recently told their partner they wanted to separate.

OF THE 121 women killed, 29 were supposed to be under the protection of a court order at the time.

OF THE 28 women who murdered male partners, 17 were found to have suffered abuse at the hands of the man they killed and another five were identified as being both a victim and an abuser.

MEN were more likely to kill a partner without using a weapon (21 cases), indicating they may use brute force by hands or feet, while men killed 38 women using a sharp weapon, 19 by strangulation and 14 using a gun.