Imperfect Victims? Civilian Men, Vulnerability, and Policy Preferences

Who is deemed vulnerable and in need of protection has a bearing on important policy decisions, such as refugee acceptance or provision of aid. In war, dominant narratives construe women as paradigmatic victims, even while civilian men are disproportionately targeted in the most lethal forms of viol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American political science review 2024-02, Vol.118 (1), p.274-290
Main Authors: KREFT, ANNE-KATHRIN, AGERBERG, MATTIAS
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
armed conflict
Assassinations & assassination attempts
attitudes
Civilians
Death
Democracy
Experiments
Females
Gender
Government & Law
hostile
Human rights
humanitarian
Humanitarianism
International relations
Males
masculinist protection
Massacres
Men
Murders & murder attempts
Perceptions
Political Science
Political violence
Preferences
Public opinion
Refugees
Respondents
Sex crimes
Sexual Abuse
sexual violence
Statsvetenskap
support
Victimization
Victims
Victims of Crime
Violations
Violence
Vulnerability
War
Women
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Summary:Who is deemed vulnerable and in need of protection has a bearing on important policy decisions, such as refugee acceptance or provision of aid. In war, dominant narratives construe women as paradigmatic victims, even while civilian men are disproportionately targeted in the most lethal forms of violence. How are such gender-essentialist notions reflected in public opinion? Do regular citizens have inaccurate perceptions of male victimization in war, and with what consequences for their policy preferences? We carried out survey experiments among U.S. and U.K. respondents on both real and hypothetical conflicts, where we emphasized or varied the gender of the victims. In support of our expectations, respondents consistently underestimate the victimization of men, perceive civilian male victims as less innocent, and hold anti-male biases when it comes to accepting refugees and providing aid. However, informing respondents of the vulnerability of male civilians to targeted assassinations and massacres mitigates these effects.
ISSN:0003-0554
1537-5943
DOI:10.1017/S0003055423000345