EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Violence against women and girls in Dorset, United Kingdom: an epidemiological study of perpetrators and locations based on police records

Jessica Pearcey, Barak Ariel (), Vincent Harinam and Noy Assaraf
Additional contact information
Jessica Pearcey: University of Cambridge
Barak Ariel: University of Cambridge
Vincent Harinam: Mournival Applied Research
Noy Assaraf: Hebrew University, Mount Scopus

Palgrave Communications, 2024, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Violence against women and girls (VAWG) continues to be a prevalent phenomenon, yet where it is more likely to occur in the public domain and how offenders assault victims remain understudied areas of interest. This analysis is based on police records on VAWG from Dorset, United Kingdom (UK), using descriptive and spatial statistical methods alongside k-means longitudinal clustering. The spatial analysis uses hexagonal tessellations with a maximum area of 100 m² to identify VAWG hotspots. Findings reveal a significant concentration of public-place VAWG harm in a few spots: half of the reported VAWG occurred within just 2.6% of these hexagons. The study also illustrates a consistent trend in VAWG occurrences, with areas categorised as low, moderate, and high in VAWG counts and measured harm remaining constant over time. However, offenders responsible for the majority of counts and harm are not predominantly active in the hotspots with the highest counts and harm, which suggests a stochastic modus operandi rather than a fixation on specific locations. The identified VAWG hotspots and patterns in offender behaviour provide valuable insights for implementing targeted crime management strategies, and underscore the need to integrate factors like frequency, recentness, degree of harm, and geographical location to assess and address VAWG risks effectively.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-024-04021-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-04021-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/palcomms/about

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-024-04021-1

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Palgrave Communications from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-19
Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-04021-1