Differences in female and male involvement in lethal violence in Russia

Abstract

Relatively little is known of the distributions of homicide event characteristics in non-Western nations in which women relative to men are involved. This article utilizes unique homicide narratives drawn from Russian court and police records to compare homicide victim, offender, and event characteristics by sex of victim and separately by sex of offender. Results from logistic regression show that homicides in which a female was the victim or offender were more likely to occur between intimates and to occur in the home, whereas homicides involving males were more likely to occur in a public place, to be alcohol-related, to involve a firearm, and to involve a victim and offender who did not know each other well. These results not only present an important first glimpse at women as homicide victims and offenders in Russia specifically, but also provide a point of comparison with findings from similar analyses undertaken in the West, and present further initial observations upon which to construct a cohesive theory about female involvement in serious violent events.

Homicídios de mulheres nas distintas regiões brasileiras nos últimos 35 anos: análise do efeito da idade-período e coorte de nascimento

“…This thesis is corroborated by systematic review studies that have shown that when a partner is a heavy alcohol user, women are more likely to become victims of fatal and non-fatal domestic violence 9,11,35 .…”

“…Another hypothesis is that the younger generation of men, especially in the most socially vulnerable regions, are more exposed to alcohol and drug abuse and, therefore, are more likely to become victims and perpetrators of violence, including gender violence 5,6,11,26 . This thesis is corroborated by systematic review studies that have shown that when a partner is a heavy alcohol user, women are more likely to become victims of fatal and non-fatal domestic violence 9,11,35 .…”

“…However, an increase in this type of violence is observed in places where a patriarchal culture remains in place and where the State is negligent [6][7][8] . Within this context, it is possible to observe differences in the types of femicides committed: in the United States and the United Kingdom femicide is mainly perpetrated by partners or former partners [9][10][11] , whereas in Mexico it is strongly associated with drug trafficking and structural violence 12 .…”

Women convicted for violent offenses: Adverse childhood experiences, low level of education and poor mental health

“…The current literature supports the hypothesis that female violent offenders display a different offense pattern in comparison to male violent offenders. Female violent offending is often characterized by the victims of women often being people close to them, the crime a result of interpersonal conflict - this includes parents, husbands and boyfriends, as well as children [ 9 , 10 , 13 , 18 , 20 - 22 ]. In comparison to men, women are more likely to commit a violent crime at home.…”

Gender differences in human single neuron responses to male emotional faces

“…Men have born the brunt of intergroup conflict dating back to hunter-gatherer societies (Van Vugt, 2009 ), and behavioral vestiges of this pattern have been consistently shown to persist to modern day. Cross-culturally, male-on-male violence accounts for more than half of homicide crimes (Jason et al, 1983 ; Eckhardt and Pridemore, 2009 ; Häkkänen-Nyholm et al, 2009 ), while the vast majority of homicides that do involve female victims or perpetrators take place between family members or acquaintances (Kellermann and Mercy, 1992 ). Extending to the modern day, males near-exclusively bear the brunt of violence from strangers or outgroup individuals.…”