NCJ Number
107970
Date Published
1985
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This report identifies types of victimization against women, analyzes contributing factors, and discusses policy implications using international data, largely from the First United Nations Survey on the Situation of Women and the Administration of Criminal Justice Systems (1970-1982).
Abstract
Female victimization is gender-specific and denies women's rights to personal security, personal choice, economic opportunity, and political freedom. It is considered in a socioeconomic, legal, and political context and in regard to legal and historical redefinition of crime. Types of female victimization such as domestic violence, sexual violence, exploitation and prostitution, and abuses of economic and political power against women and their specific characteristics and varieties in diverse social contexts are discussed. The greatest contributing factors to female victimization are women's social inequality and the division of labor according to gender. Female reproductive capacity contributes most to female victimization in the home and extends to the social assignment of women as child-raisers and as service providers inside and outside the home, and to restriction of female sexuality outside the family. Women are still concentrated in secondary job markets and are a minority in authority positions with no collective power. Moreover, pornography's growing acceptance in the past 20 years has contributed to the sexual exploitation of women. Areas of policy concern include victim redress and assistance, offender treatment, and general prevention. Legislation and an accompanying change in perspective are recommended, with the international community providing policy models, new programs, training personnel, data collection, and an information exchange to governments interested in reform. 1 table, 1 graph, and 48 references.