Gender Inequality and Cross-National Homicide: An Analysis of 146 Countries

• In Event: 570 - Section on Crime, Law and Deviance Paper Session. Sex, Gender, and Crime, Law, and Deviance

Abstract

There is little research investigating the link between gender inequality and cross-national homicide. Drawing on feminist theory, I test two hypotheses: the ameliorative hypothesis, which predicts a negative effect of gender equality on female homicide victimization, and the backlash hypothesis, which predicts a positive effect. I extend these hypotheses by theorizing how they can also explain overall homicide rates (i.e., female and male homicide victimization rates). Using a large country sample, I find that the effect of gender equality on homicide rates depends on how it is measured with a traditional socioeconomic measure exhibiting a significant positive effect and a new cultural measure exhibiting a significant negative effect. I also find that the cultural measure of gender equality explains a large percentage of Latin America’s regional effect. These results offer some support for both the ameliorative and backlash hypotheses.

Author

• Katie E. Corcoran, Baylor University