Stereotypes on Trial: Exploring the Role of Victim Alcohol Abuse in Femicide Sentencing in Russia

   This study examines how victims’ alcohol abuse affects sentencing in cases where a woman is killed by her intimate partner in Russia, focusing on gender differences among judges. The research uses a dataset of 1,478 court verdicts (2013–2019), obtained via web scraping from official sources and processed through text mining techniques. Using regression analysis, the study shows that the victim’s alcohol abuse is, on average, associated with more lenient punishment — particularly when the presiding judge is a woman. This effect remains significant after controlling for legally relevant factors, and its size is comparable to them. This influence is driven by the mere fact of alcohol abuse rather than by subsequent provocative behavior of the victim. The findings contradict common assumptions that male judges are more prone to victim-blaming. On the contrary, in Russian judicial practice, female judges tend to show greater leniency toward defendants when the victim has violated traditional gender norms. The results are interpreted through the lens of just world theory and gender role attitudes, emphasizing that judicial decisions reflect not only legal reasoning but also culturally embedded beliefs about appropriate female behavior. The study also demonstrates the potential of automated text analysis of court verdicts as a powerful tool for exploring social biases and gender stereotypes in the Russian judiciary.

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