Sex-Ratios Imbalances and Violence

• In Event: Female Fighters in Combat and on the Ballot

Abstract

How do sex-ratio imbalances affect violence? Around the world, there are distortions to the natural sex-ratio between males and females. Recent studies show that such divergences have important societal effects (e.g., Dancygier et al. 2019, Edlund et al. 2007, Grant et al. 2018). Sex ratios tipped towards men—caused, e.g., by female infanticide or female labor market migration—can increase crime. On the other hand, historical sex ratios tipped towards women have been shown to positively affect female participation—in particular in political offices (Grant et al. 2018)—which in turn may increase reporting of gendered violence, decreasing violence in the long run (Iyer et al. 2012). In this paper, I explore the link between sex-ratio imbalances and violence by combining existing historical and contemporary demographic data with a survey experiment.

Author

• Clara Neupert-Wentz, Aarhus University