In 2013, the rate of women being murdered by men in Alaska was more than double the national average, which earned Alaska second place in the grim national rankings, according to a report released this week by the Violence Policy Center, which analyzed 2013 data from the FBI.
That year, men murdered eight women in Alaska. That translates to 2.29 homicides per 100,000 women in the state.
Each year, the Violence Policy Center ranks the nation's states based on the rates at which one woman was murdered by one man. With Alaska's small population, just a slight change in that number can drastically affect where it stands.
In last year's report, Alaska placed at the top of the list with a rate of 2.57 homicides for every 100,000 women, according to 2012 FBI data. In this year's report, it did slightly better and narrowly trailed South Carolina, where 57 women were murdered by men -- a rate of 2.32 homicides for every 100,000 women, said the report.
According to the report, all eight women murdered in Alaska knew the men who killed them. Six of the women were shot. Another was killed by a blunt object. The eighth woman was killed "by bodily force."
The average age of the women was 27. Six of the women were Alaska Native or American Indian. Two were white. Five were once romantically involved with their assailants and three of the murders involved arguments, the report said.
Alaska was followed in this year's rankings by New Mexico, where men murdered 21 women in 2013, or two murders for every 100,000 women. In Louisiana, there were 47 women murdered by men, or 1.99 murders for every 100,000 women, according to the report, titled "When Men Murder Women."
The Violence Police Center said in its most recent report that while the study does not "focus solely on domestic violence homicide or guns, it provides a stark reminder that domestic violence and guns make a deadly combination."
After much debate in the most recent legislative session, which then went into a prolonged special session, Alaska lawmakers passed the Alaska Safe Children's Act, formerly known as Erin's Law and Bree's Law, to combat sexual abuse and dating violence. Butch Moore and Cindy Moore had pushed for the passage of Bree's Law after their daughter, Breanna, was shot and killed. In July, her boyfriend pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in her death.