How does Social Status Affect Female Crime Victimization Rates in Mexico?
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of relative social status on violence against women in Mexico using state level panel data. Relative social status for women is measured using education, economic and political status variables. Violence against women is measured using female homicide rates and domestic violence (“DV”) rates. Principle outcomes, which are robust to several different specifications, indicate that: a) Relatively higher educational attainment, economic, and political status of women help reduce homicide rates. Moreover, when female homicide victims are analyzed separately by age, results indicate that women older than 60 are more likely to be targeted by violence and less likely to benefit from improved social status. b) Relatively higher educational and political status help reduce DV rates. Data constraints prevent analyzing DV rates separately according to age. Overall results indicate that improvements in the social status of women should help significantly reduce female crime victimization rates in Mexico.