Wife killing

last updated 8 January 2015

Cape Town, South Africa

Women are more likely to be killed by their husbands or boyfriends in South Africa than anywhere else in the world, according to a University of Cape Town study released this week. A South African woman is killed by her partner at the rate of one every six hours. Yet nearly two-thirds of the murderers are never prosecuted, largely because poorly trained police fail to follow up on domestic violence cases and crucial evidence is lost. The Cape Town Cape Argus blamed the appalling murder rate on “unemployment, depression, jealousy, a patriarchal society, and alcohol and drug abuse.”