Murder victims, by sex and race

Jessica Valenti cites three anecdotal violent crimes as evidence that women are being oppressed in the United States. These stories may outrage readers, but the statistical data on murder simply does not support the argument Valenti is trying to make.

If Valenti wishes to use murder as evidence of sexist oppression, men are far more oppressed than women. After all, the FBI reports that 78 percent of murder victims in 2008 were male.

If there is an argument to be made from murder statistics about discrimination, black males are far more oppressed that women. 5,752 of the 14,180 homicide victims in 2008 were black males, far higher than the percentage of black males in the population.

Furthermore, it is well established that prison rape is an epidemic, but the FBI statistics ignore male rape victims by defining rape as "the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will." Even worse, the cultural perception of prison rape is that the victims "deserve" what they get.

Equal rights for women is a worthy topic for discussion, but dishonestly using anecdotal evidence and ignoring statistics is unworthy of the Post editorial page.