Reference using Indian district data:
Dreze, Jean and R. Khera.
2000. "Crime, gender, and society in India: Insights from homicide data."
Population and Development Review 26(June): 335-53.
This study presents an analysis of inter-district variations in murder rates in
India in 1981. Three significant patterns emerge. First, murder rates in India
bear no significant relation with urbanization or poverty. Second, there is a
negative association between literacy and criminal violence. Third, murder
rates in India are highly correlated with the female-male ratio in the
population: districts with higher female-male ratios have lower murder rates.
Alternative hypotheses about the causal relationships underlying this connection
between sex ratios and murder rates are scrutinized. One plausible explanation
is that low female-male ratios and high murder rates are joint symptoms of a
patriarchal environment. This study also suggests that gender relations, in
general, have a crucial bearing on criminal violence.
| Last updated April
23, 2001 |
|
