Victimization of gender - Essay Example

Crimes and criminal acts thrive on the exploitation of their victims a fact that compels a systematic occurrence of the acts based on the prevailing stereotypes that may make a section of the society susceptible to the criminally instigated acts. Among the most common sources of victimization is gender, a case in which the two genders present different features some of most of which make either gender weaker to other. Masculinity and femininity are physical attributes of humanity that form the basis of difference as a result of this, it forms the basis from which the society has successfully constructed a number of stereotypes thereby developing biases on the two genders (Barker, 2007).

The society successfully and systematically developed a number of gender stereotypes on the elements of fear, danger and risk. The subsequent stereotypes make the genders both dangerous criminals and the targets for the crimes in equal measure. The trend in modern society is multifaceted committed by both men and women in equal measure. The different criminals identify their victims carefully emphasizing on the features of their gender most of which make them susceptible the different natures of the crimes they commit (Plucknett, 2001).

Men claim supremacy over their female counterparts a feature their attribute to their gender. Masculinity compel brevity. This implies that men consider themselves braver than they consider women who most of the modern societies consider weaker and therefore incapable of facing challenging situations as their male counterparts would. The claim for brevity by men make them both instigators of crimes most of which target both men and women and equally makes them the targets to some of the crimes instigated by women.

Because men are always more likely to resist robbery, such crimes often turn violent as the criminals employ tactics that may either instill fear in their victims or maim them thereby making them incapable of resisting the acts. The prevalent of violent crimes against is minimal since as the society dictates it, women are fearful and therefore less likely to resists the crimes committed against them (Herring, 2012). Because of the fear in the women victims, most criminals target women who they perceive to be easier targets.

Such biased social mindsets results prevent varying degrees of risks to both the victims of the crimes and the criminals especially in the modern society. Unlike in the past, the prevalent of urbanization and globalization has resulted in a more liberal social structure in which people lead independent lifestyles. This has increased privacy of lifestyles making people less social. It is therefore more difficult to assume that a bias is as conventionally prevalent as in the previously more integrated societies.

The independent lifestyles make women more prepared and equally strong and brave. Additionally, the presence of information on the internet and other commonly available sources make both men and women equally prepared for the criminal attacks (Newton, 2008). Women just like their male counterparts therefore walk with pistols and short guns for protection against such violent attacks. With such they therefore become equally string and brave thereby presenting equal degree of danger to their assailants.

In the absence of such precautionary means of protection, most male criminals prevent sexual threat as a means of coercing cooperation from their female victims. Unlike men, women attach more importance to their feature of sexuality. The society is more liberal on men in relation to sexuality, most crimes that target women therefore always