The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with Canada and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (December 2023) |
A gender crime is a hate crime committed against a specific gender. Gender crimes may include rape, genital mutilation, forced prostitution, and forced pregnancy. Often gender crimes are committed during armed conflict or during times of political upheaval or instability. Some examples of these conflicts include the Yugoslavian Civil War[1] and the Rwandan genocide.[2]
Gender crime is not universally recognized as a category of hate crime but is increasingly being included in the United States as a category in state and federal hate crime laws. Internationally, most gender crimes committed during times of war are recognized as war crimes as set forth by the Fourth Geneva Convention. Revenge porn and other online behavior are also seen as hate crimes.[3][4] Criminologists have also pioneered the specific discipline of criminal victimization which could be considered one of many major factors contributing to gender crimes. For example, there is a greater likelihood of women in comparison to men who are victims of a familiar person, in most cases a man that they know, instead of a stranger.[5]