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Patterning of Sexual Violence against Women across US Cities and Counties

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  • Jennifer Pabst

    (Department of Anthropology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA)

  • Scott M. Walfield

    (Department of Criminal Justice, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA)

  • Ryan Schacht

    (Department of Anthropology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA)

Abstract

Sexual violence against women is a global public health concern; yet, determining its patterning is still largely understudied. An excess of males has emerged as a central concern given that men are the primary perpetrators of violent behavior, particularly against women. However, it is increasingly unclear as to whether an excess or, rather, a shortage of men drives purported negative social outcomes. To address these conflicting expectations, we target data from the U.S. Census and the National Incident-Based Reporting System to explore the patterning of sexual violence against women across cities and counties in the United States. Through the use of generalized linear mixed models, we assess the role of adult sex ratio imbalance, along with measures of gender inequality, on sexual violence. Our results indicate mixed support for competing predictions. Violence does not simply increase by way of male surplus or shortage, but instead with increasing skew in the sex ratio. That is, balanced sex ratios exhibit the lowest rates of violence. However, rates of sexual violence against women increase more quickly with increasing male scarcity and are lowest at low levels of male excess (51%). Thus, our findings are particularly challenging to interpret from a ‘more males = more violence’ framework because violence increases more quickly with female excess and is rarest with a slight male bias in the population. We argue that these results highlight a need to target the specific types of violent behaviors expected to be motivated by partner availability, rather than overly simplistic predictions of male surfeit or deficit leading to an excess of violence.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Pabst & Scott M. Walfield & Ryan Schacht, 2022. "Patterning of Sexual Violence against Women across US Cities and Counties," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-9, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:5:p:208-:d:812876
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bhalotra, Sonia & Amaral, Sofia, 2017. "Population sex ratios and violence against women: the long-run effects of sex selection in India," ISER Working Paper Series 2017-12, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    2. Josh Angrist, 2002. "How Do Sex Ratios Affect Marriage and Labor Markets? Evidence from America's Second Generation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(3), pages 997-1038.
    3. Rowe,J. W. F., 2014. "Markets and Men," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107675001, September.
    4. Bates, Douglas & Mächler, Martin & Bolker, Ben & Walker, Steve, 2015. "Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 67(i01).
    5. Monica Das Gupta & Woojin Chung & Li Shuzhuo, 2009. "Evidence for an Incipient Decline in Numbers of Missing Girls in China and India," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 35(2), pages 401-416, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nicole Gross, 2023. "What ChatGPT Tells Us about Gender: A Cautionary Tale about Performativity and Gender Biases in AI," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-15, August.

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