Public Punitiveness for Perpetrators of Crimes Against Sex Workers: The Roles of Transphobia and Misogynoir

• In Event: Public Perceptions of Victims and Defendants: Identity, Traits, and Stereotypes

Abstract

As violence against transgender people has increased in prevalence, three consistent characteristics of trans victims of violence have emerged: most are Black, almost all are transfeminine, and many are victimized while engaging in sex work. While laws and public opinion of trans people have become more negative in recent years, how that opinion impacts punishment for perpetrators of crimes with trans victims is unknown, as are interactions with the victim’s gender identity and their skin tone and sex worker status, which both generally affect punishment. This study uses a pair of vignettes, one each portraying aggravated assault and homicide, to understand how transphobia and misogynoir interact for both fatal and nonfatal violence against sex workers. A nationally representative sample of participants will be randomly assigned to a vignette with a cisgender or transgender victim who is racialized as White or Black with primarily Eurocentric, mixed Eurocentric and Afrocentric, or primarily Afrocentric features. Quantitative and qualitative differences in sentencing decisions and victim-blaming and associations between these outcomes and scores on measures of misogyny, racial resentment and sympathy, transphobia, and colorism will be assessed. The research and policy implications of these findings will be discussed.

Author

• Kristin Jeniece Lurie, University of Cincinnati