Using Chinese Judgment Documents to Explore Structural Gender Equality and Sentencing Outcomes

• In Event: Advancing Crime and Criminal Justice Research with Innovative Methods

Abstract

Existing research has consistently shown that women often receive more lenient treatment in criminal justice outcomes, attributed to the chivalry hypothesis, which views female offenders as less threatening and blameworthy. However, limited attention has been given to the broader structural gender dynamics shaping these outcomes. This study investigates how structural gender equality influences sentencing outcomes for male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) in China. Drawing on the Amelioration Hypothesis and the Backlash Hypothesis, it examines whether women’s rising societal prominence, reflected in greater political and judicial participation, leads to stricter penalties for male offenders to enhance victim protection or erodes traditional leniency due to perceived threats to patriarchal norms. Using coded Chinese judicial judgments, the dependent variable—sentence length in months—is analyzed through multilevel Tobit regression models to account for the censored nature of sentencing data, including life imprisonment and death penalties. Prefecture-level gender equality indicators, socio-demographic controls, and incident-specific covariates are incorporated for robust analysis. The findings contribute to understanding how evolving gender relations influence formal social controls, offering nuanced insights into the intersection of gender equality and judicial practices, while advancing theoretical frameworks on structural gender equality and criminal justice within patriarchal contexts.

Author

• Yuxuan Gu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong