The Sex Ratio, Gender Equality, and Women's Victimization: A Cross-National Analysis

• In Event: Victimization, Protection, and Prevention

Abstract

The relationship between the sex ratio and crime is underdeveloped in the criminological literature, particularly regarding the victimization of women. Much of the existing work draws on theorizing by Guttentag and Secord (1983) on the interpersonal dynamics related to dyadic power. In this line of research, the characteristics of structural power are largely taken for granted. Drawing on literature about gender inequality and women’s victimization, this study recasts Guttentag and Secord’s notion of structural power as a continuous measure of gender equality. I examine the effect of the sex ratio on women’s victimization, and evaluate if that effect is contingent on the levels of gender equality. I theorize and evaluate the relationships between these constructs cross-nationally, using data on female homicide victimization from the World Health Organization, data on rape from the United Nations Crime Trends Survey, and the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index.

Author

• Laura M. DeMarco, The Ohio State University