The Invisible Woman. Joanne Belknap
in crime, who become increasingly socially and psychologically alienated from conventional life (p. 156). These women’s assaults were described as “often impulsive and unorganized,” frequently involving weapons and occurring when they were intoxicated (p. 152). One fifth of the assaults were planned, and these usually involved vengeance, “either related to money or false accusations” (p. 152). Fourteen percent of the assaults were related to drug-dealing.
A study of youth arrests found no gender differences in being victims of either simple or aggravated assaults, but girls were more likely to perpetrate simple assaults and boys were more likely arrested for aggravated assaults (Tisak, Tisak, Baker, & Graupensperger, 2019). An analysis of three decades of NIBRS data (1985–2015) found that all-or-solely-male-perpetrated aggravated assaults (26%) were almost twice as likely as all-or-solely-female-perpetrated aggravated assaults (15%) to be of intimates/family, while all-or-solely-male-perpetrated aggravated assaults (30%) were almost 3 times as likely as all-or-solely-female-perpetrated aggravated assaults (11%) to be of strangers (J. Schwartz et al., 2015). Notably, aggravated assaults committed by all-or-solely-male perpetrators (69%) were 6 times as likely as those committed by all-or-solely-female perpetrators (11%), so men/boys are still committing even aggravated assaults against intimates/family far more often than women/girls. The percentage of aggravated assaults with acquaintance victims did not vary much by gender (64% of all-or-solely-female-perpetrated and 56% all-or-solely-male-perpetrated). Mixed-gender-perpetrated aggravated assault victims were 50% intimates/family, 38% acquaintances, and 12% strangers. Finally, among aggravated assault incidents, those with all-or-solely-male perpetrators (29%) were 5 times as likely as those with all-or-solely-female perpetrators (6%) to use guns, and 15% of mixed-gender-perpetrated robberies used guns (J. Schwartz et al., 2015).
Another analysis of 2010 NIBRS data on juvenile assaults found that three quarters (74.2%) were simple assaults and most had no or minor injuries (97.4%) (Vaughan, Pollock, & Vandiver, 2015). However, these were gendered: 7.5% of girls’ and 11.2% of boys’ assaults were classified as aggravated (as opposed to simple) assaults (Vaughan et al., 2015). Boys’ assaults were more injurious than girls’ assaults, and boys were 12 times more likely than girls to use a firearm. One of the main gender differences in these juvenile assaults was the victim–offender relationship: Boys were 6 times more likely than girls to assault a boy or man, twice as likely to offend against someone under age 13 (as opposed to 25 to 44 years old) and somewhat more likely than girls to assault individuals closer in age, “especially acquaintances and boyfriends or girlfriends” (Vaughan et al., 2015, p. 30). Girls were more likely to assault “older family members, especially parents and stepparents” (p. 30).
Child Abductions/Kidnappings
Child abductions are often sensationalized in the media, but only when the children are white (e.g., the Lindbergh baby, Megan Kanka, Polly Klaas, Amber Hagerman). The 1970s and 1980s served as an abduction epidemic moral panic, “entrenched [with] a perception of ‘stranger danger’” (J. A. Walsh, Krienert, & Comens, 2016, p. 21). Analyzing 19 years (1995–2013) of NIBRS child abduction incidents (N = 14,161 incidents and 29,293 victims), J. A. Walsh and colleagues (2016) found these were highly gendered and only 16% were perpetrated by strangers. Abductors were predominantly men (72%) and white (65%). Victims were predominantly 12 to 17 years old (51%), girls (64%), and white (68%). The most common victim–offender relationship (VOR) was family (48%), followed by acquaintance (27%), stranger (16%), and intimate partner (9%). Notably, the authors report that “family” abductors were usually parents of the victim (and usually fathers), and the intimate partner VOR was where the victim (was 17 or younger) and offender were currently or formerly in an intimate relationship as spouses or girlfriend/boyfriends (2% were same-sex couples). Intimate partner abductors were 98% men and all (100%) victims were girls (under 18). The authors describe the intimate partner abductions as “an extreme form of dating violence perpetrated by young males against young females” (J. A. Walsh et al., 2016, p. 37). Although they inform us that a victim was murdered in 28% and sexually abused in 14% of the incidents, unfortunately, these variables are not broken down by VOR. It is also unfortunate the authors did not further break down the “family” perpetrator data, that is, how many were mothers and fathers. Although men were overwhelmingly the abductors, when women were abductors, over fourth fifths of the time (82%) they were “family members” (seemingly usually mothers) of the victims, whom the authors note “are not motivated by intent to harm the victim, but rather to protect the child from perceived harm or to emotionally harm the other parent” (p. 31). There are certainly cases where mothers have “kidnapped” their children when the courts failed to protect them from an abusive father (Kutner, 2016; Neustein, Lesher, & Felder, 2005).
Homicides
An analysis of 48 countries found that women commit about 8% of homicides (Agha, 2009). Researchers estimate that 10% to 20% of all homicides in the United States are committed by women, but evidence suggests that women’s “share” of homicides has halved, closer to the 10% rate, since the 1990s. The percentage of female homicide arrests was 17% in 1960 (Steffensmeier, 1993), decreasing since the early 1980s (Fox & Zawitz, 2010), to 10% in 1990 (Gauthier & Bankston, 1997; Steffensmeier, 1993) where it has largely stayed (J. A. Fox & Fridel, 2017; J. A. Fox & Zawitz, 2010; Fridel & Fox, 2019).2 As previously noted, however, in 2018 women and girls’ portion was slightly higher, at 12%, but there were almost identical decreases in women/girls’ (58%) and men/boys’ (59%) homicide arrests from 2009 to 2018 (Table 4.1, Chapter 4). A study of U.S. homicides from 1976 to 2017 found (1) nine tenths (90%) of perpetrators are men and four fifths (81%) of victims are men; (2) men (30%) are more involved in felony murders than women (20%); (3) half of male (49%) and 35% of female homicide offenders are younger than 25; (4) African Americans are more overrepresented among both male homicide victims and offenders than among female victims and offenders; (5) males use guns (72%) more than females (51%) in homicides; (6) in multiple victim incidents, women’s victimizations are typically where her current or former partner kills her and their children; (7) in multiple victim incidents, male victims are almost twice as likely as female victims to be killed in gang warfare or drug-trafficking violence (Fridel & Fox, 2019).
2 An analysis of NIBRS data found 81% of intimate partner homicides were perpetrated by men (Addington & Perumean-Chaney, 2014), but NIBRS data are not yet considered as representative of the United States as UCR data.
An analysis of 2005 NIBRS data found that four fifths (79%) of homicides were all-or-solely-male-perpetrated, one fifth (20%), were mixed-gender-group homicides, and only 1% were all-or-solely-female-perpetrated (J. Schwartz et al., 2015). Mixed-gender-perpetrated homicide victims were 60% strangers and 36% acquaintances.3 Among homicide incidents, the largest category of VOR was acquaintance (51% of all-or-solely-male perpetrated, 50% for all-or-solely-female perpetrated, and 52% of mixed-gender perpetrators). When women killed alone or with other women, the VOR was next most likely intimate/family (34%) and least likely strangers (17%), whereas when groups of men or single men alone killed, after acquaintances the VOR next most likely was strangers (43%) and only 6% were intimate/family. For mixed-gender groups, the VOR was divided between intimate/family (24%) and stranger (24%) (other than the 52% of acquaintance VOR homicides). Finally, among homicide incidents, those with all-male perpetrators (77%) were twice as likely as those all-female perpetrators (36%) to use guns (and 49% of mixed-gender groups used guns) (J. Schwartz et al., 2015).
3 Only 1% of all-male perpetrated, 3% of all-female perpetrated, and 5% of mixed-gender perpetrated robberies were of romantic intimates or family.
The remainder of this section will specifically address intimate partner homicide and filicide, given their strongly gendered characteristics and connection to intimate partner abuse. But it is also necessary to acknowledge eldercide (the homicide of an elderly person) is a male-gender-related homicide as well. Using five years of NIBRS data, Krienert and Walsh (2010) found (1) men (83.5%) are 5 times as likely as women (16.5%) to perpetrate eldercide; (2) women (32%) are 3 times as likely as men (9%) eldercide victims to be killed by a spouse, and slightly more likely to be killed by a child (19%