Female Victimization in Northern and Western Europe

In recent decades, violent crime has been on the downswing. This is true in northern and western Europe. However, more fine-grained analyses indicate that the prevalence of victimization is different depending on the type of crime and the type of victim (male or female). Additionally, changes in victimization are rarely the same for males and females. Violent crime, including homicide, while down, is generally declining more for men than women. Rape and sexual assault victimization have seen increases depending on the source of data. While broad trends are similar across countries, international research shows that the specifics regarding the prevalence of victimization and changing rates can be different depending on the region. This calls for more work on the gendered nature of victimization in cross-national criminological research.