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The Social Distribution of Femicide in Urban Canada, 1921–1988

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Rosemary Gartner  and
Bill McCarthy
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Abstract

How well do conventional perspectives on homicide account for the social distribution of femicide, or the killing of females? An analysis of 670 cases of femicide in Toronto and Vancouver from 1921 to 1988 provides stronger support for an alternative perspective that acknowledges both the intimate, domestic character of femicide and the historically contingent nature of opportunities and motivations for femicide. Rather than coming to resemble male homicide, femicide remains as concentrated in private, domestic locations and relationships as it was seventy years ago. However, the relationships between femicide and some social statuses, such as women's employment, have changed over time.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , 1991 , pp. 287 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 by The Law and Society Association

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Footnotes

An earlier version of this article was presented at the Law and Society Association annual meetings, Amsterdam, 26–29 June 1991. The research was partially supported by Humanities and Social Science Research Committee grants to the authors from their respective universities. We thank the Homicide Division of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Department and Major Crimes Division of the Vancouver Police Department for their cooperation.

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