The claim made by Kersti Yllö in the Christian Science Monitor was that, "According to the FBI, 10 women a day are murdered by their boyfriends, husbands, or ex-husbands."

Is it true?

Here is the relevant table directly from the website of the Bureau of Justice Statistics:

    U.S. Department of Justice
    Office of Justice Programs
    Bureau of Justice Statistics
      Special Report
        Sex Differences in Violent Victimization, 1994
          September 1997, NCJ-164508
            Percent of homicides in 1994
            ----------------------------
            Victim-killer relationshipTotalFemaleMale
            Intimates9.4%31.0%3.8%
            ...Spouse5.117.22.0
            ...Ex-spouse .41.6.1
            ...Boy/girlfriend3.912.31.7
            Other relatives4.57.03.9
            Friend/acquaintance32.323.934.4
            Stranger13.67.915.0
            Unknown40.230.142.9
            Number of homicides21,9374,48917,448
            ---------------------------------------------------------------
            Source: FBI, UCR Supplemental Homicide Report, 1994.

          To see this report in its entirety, click here.

          There were a total of 4,489 homicides with female victims. 31% of these were committed by "boyfriends, husbands, or ex-husbands". 31% of 4,489 is 1,392. Dividing 1,392 by 365 gives us 3.8 such homicides per day. This is not good news, but neither is it ten. It is not even half of ten.

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