There is little dispute that men commit far more violent acts than women. According to FBI data on crime in the U.S., they account for some
90% of known murderers. And a study published in
American Society of Criminology finds that men account for
nearly 80% of all violent offenders reported in crime surveys, despite a substantial narrowing of the gap since the 1970s. But, whatever explains the higher levels of male violence—biology, culture or both—the indisputable fact is that it’s directed primarily at other males: in 2010, men were the victims in
almost four out of five homicides and
almost two-thirds of robberies and non-domestic aggravated assaults.
Family and intimate relationships—the one area feminists often identify as a key battleground in the war on women—are also an area in which women are most likely to be violent, and not just in response to male aggression but toward children, elders, female relatives or partners, and non-violent men, according to a study published in the Journal of Family Violence.