Women and Violent Crime Statistics

[CKDexterHaven]

One of the things we are always told is that men are more often the victims of violent crime than women but something about this doesn't sit right with me. As many as 1 in 3 women will be victims of a violent partner, 1 in 4 women will be raped and street harassment is endemic. Just speaking anecdotally I know at least as many women as men who have been attacked by a stranger. None of this seems to show up in the statistics.

Why is this? Are crime statistics being manipulated to disappear women as victims? Are women less likely to report crimes? Is it the case that violence against men is most likely public and, therefore, visible, whereas violence against women goes on behind closed doors and, therefore, unnoticed? I can't help but feel that data is being skewed somewhere.

[Dervel]

I think the salient point is a majority of the violence is committed by men. Anecdotally I've known by far way more male friends beaten up in the street so to speak, and far more female friends sexually assaulted/ raped. I am becoming more aware how public spaces can be more hostile to women.

None of this should be acceptable, and if (male) violence was curtailed it would solve a lot.

[SevenZarkSeven]

CKDexter I often wonder the same thing.

I think they don't count certain sexual offences as "violent" and of course many of them don't get reported. A lot of the harrassment of women is "low level" unreported and treated by society as an occupational hazard of being female.

I have also been threatened with violence by random men while on nights out and punched in the face by a stranger once for no apparent reason (male stranger massive rugby type).

I just feel like, male on male violence is more "obvious" as it's out on the streets, fighting after chucking out (does that still happen now the hours have changed) football supporter clashes that sort of thing. And of course you have more serious violence amongst some groups in certain areas often linked to crime or just deprivation which id often male on male.

Dunno. I know what you mean though.

[SevenZarkSeven]

Of course in some gangs the girls get raped the whole time but that doesn't hit the news or the stats I guess as it's not reported whereas stabbings and so on ie the male/male violence goes on hospital stats and so on.

I just really don't know. The stats say one thing but having grown up in the UK and had lots of friends male & female and gone out a lot I don't see much of a difference apart from men don't generally get wanked at by strangers and so on.

[AskBasil]

The reason men are more often the victims of violent crime than women are, is because they take sexual crimes like rape out of those violent crime stats.

Once you put them back in, the story is different.

What I did read once is that women are more likely to be murdered by someone they know, while men are more likely to be murdered by a stranger. I don't know if that's still true.

[CKDexterHaven]

Separating sexual assault from other kinds of violence really cooks the books when it comes to the statistics, doesn't it? Prodding someone in the chest during an argument counts as an act of violence but raping someone or grabbing their breast doesn't. It just annoys me when MRAs and apologists always bring up the 'men are more likely to be victims of violence' stuff as a derailment tactic when the basis of that kind of statement seems iffy.

[sausageeggbacon11]

Basil the police.uk website includes all sexual crime as violent so if the police separate out elsewhere they are asking to confuse everyone and for the figures to never match which is stupid of them.