Citation

McPhail BA, Dinitto DM. Violence Against Women 2005; 11(9): 1162-1185.

Affiliation

University of Houston.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077801205277086

PMID

16049105

Abstract

Increasingly, state and federal hate crime policies include the status category of gender. This study assesses prosecutors' knowledge of gender-bias hate crimes and their willingness to charge violence against women as a hate crime. A grounded theory method used qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of prosecutors from Texas. The study found prosecutors insufficiently informed about gender-bias hate crimes. Prosecutors attribute violence against women to motivations of power and control rather than hate. Prosecutors find hate crime prosecutions problematic, including the use of the category of gender. The findings have implications for the hate crime and antiviolence against women movements.