Justice Provision in Gendered Settings: Evidence from Mexico

• In Event: The Intersection of Gender, Criminal Violence, and Politics in Latin America

Abstract

What is the impact of gender-based violence on individuals’ attitudes towards justice? Prior scholarship has examined laws and policies addressing gendered justice, women’s representation in the judiciary, and the promotion of women’s participation in justice processes, but less is known regarding individual’s preferences for justice following gender-based violence. I build on this work by examining how the (1) severity of gender-based violence, (2) gender, and (3) direct or indirect exposure to gender-based violence shapes support for punitive justice preferences. I utilize a mixed-methods approach that leverages in-depth interviews with justice providers and justice seekers and an original survey with an embedded vignette experiment (n = 1,226) that exposes respondents to different justice outcomes following gender-based violence, to examine individuals’ justice preferences in Mexico. The findings suggest that individuals, and specifically women and those with no direct or indirect exposure to gender-based violence, prefer harsher, more punitive justice outcomes following severe gender-based violence. My research contributes to scholarship on gender and the role of violence in shaping preferences for punitive justice.

Author

• Angie Torres-Beltran, Michigan State University