# Is there any crime or vice women do more often than men? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938 "2015-08-15T20:10:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938/41 "2015-08-17T17:07:25Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > “Recent news” is certainly an unreliable way of gathering statistics about this sort of thing. The crime is likely perceived to be more “interesting” and thus more likely to be reported when a woman commits it. Also, the statistics I see indicate that 87% of primary school teachers are female, so even if men and women committed the crime in equal percentages, there would be a more than 6 to 1 ratio of females to males in the arrests. > > –Mark Yeah, “teacher boinks 15-year-old student” is more likely to be national news and a bigger story if that teacher is female and the student is male. For what I recall of news items, the male teachers seem to do it more often but it’s not “weird/interesting” news the way females offenders are. As for teachers and early grade school students, obviously there are very very few men working in lower grades, and probably as much for the reason that they are unfortunately viewed with suspicion and choose to avoid it. But most of the cases involving women tend to be with victims in the teen years. One analysis I saw suggested a lot of these offenders are women who were not the “popular crowd” in high school - suddenly as a fully developed adult with impressionable young (horny) boys around, with a car, their own place, etc. they are the center of attention in a way they never were in their teen years and it goes to their head. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938/42 "2015-08-17T19:03:39Z")
How about people killing their husbands? Mostly women, yeah? ---
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938/43 "2015-08-18T01:59:18Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Post-partum depression may be part of the equation. Another might be simple exposure - mothers are still much more often the primary care givers ( or caretakers ) of young children and thus more likely snap under that particular stress. How come if a woman commits a crime, she is considered mentally ill, while a man is just considered plain evil? ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938/44 "2015-08-18T02:19:19Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’d bet prostitution is overwhelmingly women, even if you don’t limit it to arrests and convictions. I’d be surprised if the ratio was even close to 10:1. if you consider the johns to be equally guilty in the commission of the crime of prostitution, it tilts back to male, since the johns of both male and female prostitutes are overwhelmingly male. ---
**Author:** ![Toy\_varen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Toy\_varen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toy_varen)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938/45 "2015-08-18T02:48:27Z")
didn’t read all posts, but there’s a reason more and more courts in the US are starting from 50:50 in domestic violence cases. In some regions, I’ve seen higher for women than men. ---
**Author:** ![Toy\_varen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Toy\_varen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toy_varen)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938/46 "2015-08-18T11:54:02Z")
> [@CC](#): > > How about people killing their husbands? Mostly women, yeah? Actually, if you look at the stats for female serial killer or matricide, they tend to kill females more. While there are fewer female serial killers, they tend to kill in the hundreds, while males generally are caught in the 20-50’s. > [@protoboard](#): > > How come if a woman commits a crime, she is considered mentally ill, while a man is just considered plain evil? I’m assuming lies and a commitment to do whatever it takes to deceive the justice system. ---
**Author:** ![Toy\_varen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Toy\_varen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toy_varen)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938/47 "2015-08-18T12:46:25Z")
Oh, in regards to the discussion above, prostitution is probably the most common activity associated with women, but in many countries it is not illegal and in fact regulated by the government. Also note that historically males as well as females engage in it. > **[History of prostitution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_prostitution)** > > Prostitution has been practiced throughout ancient and modern cultures. Prostitution has been described as "the world's oldest profession," although the oldest professions are most likely farmers, hunters, and shepherds. > The Ancient Near East was home to many shrines, temples, or "houses of heaven," which were dedicated to various deities. These shrines and temples were documented by the Greek historian Herodotus in The Histories, where sacred prostitution was a common practice. Sumerian records... Because of the nature of laws, it is really hard to distinguish “most illegal” if we are talking internationally. As any married person will tell you, their spouse is the biggest liar on the planet. Lying, in the US, is illegal, e.g. perjury, fraud, etc. Another thing to consider is motive. I went to a supermarket where baby formula was kept under lock and key. Assuming that somebody had to stay home to take care of the baby, someone was sent to get the formula, likely the father. More famously, Jean Valjean in Les Miserables was incarcerated for something similar. Overall, from a sociological point of view, drug addiction is probably the most fair between men and women, and likely crimes associated with drug addiction would be equal. However, as noted above, in many societies, it is up to the male to support the female, in drug addiction as well. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938/48 "2015-08-18T18:41:52Z")
NPR just mentioned that among prison guards and employees, women are more likely than men to be found guilty of sexual misconduct. I’m guessing this is related to the demographics (prisoners are mostly men, a much larger proportion of female employees are sexually attracted to men.) ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938/49 "2015-08-18T18:43:40Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > if you consider the johns to be equally guilty in the commission of the crime of prostitution, it tilts back to male, since the johns of both male and female prostitutes are overwhelmingly male. Well, no, you don’t need either a real john or a hooker at all to charge someone with prositution; just look at the undercover police set ups with where they target one or the other using fake/decoys. Both the client and the service provider’s actions would be considered separate crimes; one wouldn’t depend on or even require the other. I think that more prostitution-related charges are for the advertisement/solicitation than the actual physical act or money exchange in return for. I think it’d be a numbers thing: 1 hooker advertizes for and services 200 individual “clients” in a year. Technically at least 400 crimes/counts have been committed (let’s just keep it simple). The thing is you’ve got 200 1-time male offenders, and 1 200-time female offender. Although the total count is 400 you’ve got a woman commiting that crime 200 times more often than the men. (and not too many men can afford to see 200 hookers per year so I doubt it averages out). ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938/50 "2015-08-18T23:00:28Z")
I think we can safely discard the prostitution stings of either johns or prostitutes as being a tiny, tiny fraction of all acts of prostitution. But just staying with the commission of the crime, whether arrested for it or not, it is still 400 crimes in your example, no matter how many people participated. Add in the activities of male prostitutes, whose clientele is overwhelmingly male, and the pimps of the prostitutes and we are back to more males. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-crime-or-vice-women-do-more-often-than-men/727938.md?page=2)