Femicide occurs in the Southeast and Southwest areas of the country. The perpetrators of femicide are most often the husbands of the murdered woman, followed by boyfriends and male paramours on the side. They tend to be of the same race as their victim, but generally older. The act is most often carried out with firearms, followed by knives and beatings. Feminists view the American attitude towards love as one of the reasons these intimate partner femicide occur. Feminist Hildegard Peplau states that Americans are sentimental about love and that they de-emphasize the cultural forces that shape whom you love and
Femicide is the appearance of physical abuse, which was found in 79% of all femicide cases in North Carolina. Gun availability in the United States has also had a substantial effect on femicide, correlating to 67.9% of deaths in a study by Karen D. Stout. Living in neighborhoods with increased poverty, ethnic heterogeneity and decreased collective efficacy (social cohesion among neighbors) are all found to be linked to increased femicide rates in that area. Across the nation femicide rates vary, with the highest rate in 1985 being found in Alabama and the lowest in Iowa. Geographically, the highest prevalence of femicide