Los homicidios de pareja, especialmente los cometidos por hombres, han recibido especial atención tanto desde el ámbito social como académico. Pese a esto, son pocos los estudios que han abordado el estudio de las diferencias existentes entre los homicidios de parejas cometidos por hombres y mujeres, habiendo encontrado las investigaciones en este ámbito que existen diferencias importantes. En este trabajo se analizan 149 casos de homicidio de pareja cometidos por hombres (n = 134) y por mujeres (n = 15), registrados y esclarecidos por la Guardia Civil entre los años 2013 y 2018. Los resultados muestran que existen diferencias significativas entre ambos tipos de homicidios y que las explicaciones reduccionistas no tienen cabida a la hora de explicar fenómenos tan complejos y multicausados como los homicidios de pareja, independientemente del sexo del autor.

The homicides committed by women make up between 5 and 15% of the total number of homicides recorded in the world. Studies based on the gender of the perpetrator have been uncommon due to the low level of prevalence of female homicide offenders, but this tendency is currently undergoing a change. Nonetheless, in general, there is still limited knowledge of the role of women in serious crime, which makes the task of criminal policy more difficult. Therefore, the present investigation seeks to perform a comparative analysis of the homicides committed by women (n = 56) with those committed by men (n = 521). The cases in this sample correspond to homicides solved in Spain by the Civil Guard between the years 2013 and 2018. The findings of the study show that homicides by women have distinctive characteristics, with 3 out of every 4 taking place in the family environment, and these being dominated by cases of filicide. The victims are underage males with some type of vulnerability and a mental disorder. The female perpetrators tend to have a partner and live with somebody, have a mental disorder and do not present a prior criminal record. With regard to the crime, homicides perpetrated by women take place in the afternoon, without witnesses and in residences; when it comes to the criminal behaviours, they use weapons of opportunity, above all asphyxiating methods, they alter the scene and do not flee from the scene of the crime.