NCJ Number
143962
Date Published
1993
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This analysis of murders of women and girls argues that sexual murder is the ultimate expression of sexuality as a form of power and is part of a tradition of gynocide.
Abstract
The discussion focuses on three events: (1) the conviction of Joel Steinberg for the death of his illegally adopted daughter; (2) the execution of the serial murderer Ted Bundy; and (3) the murders of hundreds of women, many of whom police say were working as prostitutes, during the past 7 years on the west coast. The discussion of the Steinberg case focuses on the debate over whether Hedda Nussbaum, the woman Steinberg lived with and battered, colluded in the child's death. It argues that the media's patriarchical construction of female victimization is central to this debate. The discussion of Ted Bundy notes that serial murderers are males and that their victims are characteristically females; they commit crimes of sexually political and essentially patriarchical domination. The analysis of the murders on the west coast notes that these female victims were often portrayed as people who deserved to die due to the way they had lived. Murders of prostitutes tend to evoke apathetic attitudes in the public and delayed responses by the police. However, 30 percent of all women murdered are killed by their husbands and lovers; at least 1.8 million women are beaten by husbands and lovers annually. The analysis concludes that the definition of hate crimes needs to be expanded to include the victim's gender. Note and 58 references