Women likelier victims of physical assault in developed countries

It turns out that women are more likely to be the victims of physical assault in developed countries, claims a new study.

West Virginia University sociology professor Rachel E. Stein used data from the International Crime Victimization Survey from 45 countries, and found that that women in developed countries, like the United States, were actually more likely to be physically assaulted than those in developing countries.

Stein reviewed physical and sexual assault victimization statistics at the national level to determine whether the societal structures around victims played a part in the frequency of attacks.

Sexual victimization is defined as incidents where, "people sometimes grab, touch, or assault others for sexual reasons in a really offensive way." Physical victimization is defined as "being threatened or personally attacked by someone in a way that really frightened you." The sample was limited to females only.

A variety of factors contributing to victimization exist. These can range from how often a female goes out for leisure activities (go to a bar, to a restaurant, to see friends), whether she lives alone, and age.

Stein said that it was not just the individual routines that were the sole contributing factor to victimization, and a woman's surrounding environment also played risk.

The paper was published in the International Criminal Justice Review.