Sex Ratios, Female Labor Force Participation, and Lethal Violence Against Women

Abstract

This article applies Guttentag and Secord's ideas on sex ratios and female labor force participation to the explanation of lethal violence against women. It is postulated that low sex ratios (more women than men) may combine with increased female labor force participation to expand the incidence of lethal violence against women. Using data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports in conjunction with data from the 1990 U.S. population census, results suggest that high sex ratios augment female homicide victimization. But the effect is not mediated by female labor force participation. Nevertheless, to the extent that poverty and female labor force participation rates increase female homicide victimization, they are more salient for the explanation of the victimization experiences of White women.