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ix Approximately seven years ago I first discovered my interest in hate crimes, particularly gender-motivated hate crimes. The topic intrigued me because violence against women continues to be a significant social problem, yet there is no consensus on the appropriate response to this problem within the academic literature or within federal and state policies. Over the past several years I have spent considerable time researching and writing about gender-motivated hate crimes, and I admit that there were occasions when I wondered if it was time for me to move on to a different topic. Perhaps because of the lack of attention to gender-motivated hate crimes within the academic literature, or because of the public’s lack of knowledge and interest, I began to seriously doubt the relevancy of my work. However, the horrific events of Tuesday, August 4, 2009, not only reminded me of why I first became interested in the topic of gendermotivated violence, but they also served as one of my key motivations to finally complete this project. It was on that date when George Sodini walked into a fitness center in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, with the sole purpose of murdering women. The tragedy was an obvious gender-motivated hate crime: Sodini wrote on the Internet about his feelings of hate for women, and he selected a fitness class in which he could purposely target women for murder. In the end, three women were killed and several others injured, simply because they were women. Despite the tragic events of that day, there was little to no discussion within the media or among the general public about how the violence directed at these women had been a result of their gender. None of the women had a prior relationship with Sodini; indeed, none of the women even knew him. He had simply selected his victims because they were women. Even so, very few people addressed the fact that these women were victims of a gender-motivated hate crime, and it was this lack of discussion that reminded me of the two main reasons for this research. Preface and Acknowledgments x | Preface and Acknowledgments First, gender-motivated violence needs to be talked about. Violence against women, like the Sodini murder spree, is rarely discussed within the media or by the general public, which demonstrates just how little consideration is given to such violence either nationally or globally. Second, gender-motivated violence needs to be studied. Although women are victims of violence on a daily basis, scant research explores how the gender category of bias crime legislation could serve as a tool to combat such violence. It is my hope that this book will prompt conversations and assist people interested in eliminating such violence. I relied on the support of many people during the research and writing of this book. The project started when I was a graduate student at the University of Delaware, and as the chair of my dissertation committee, Susan L. Miller provided generous support and feedback through many drafts. I am very thankful for Susan’s patience as my mentor and my friend. I would like to thank my editors , Claire M. Renzetti and Phyllis Deutsch, of the University Press of New England. I am grateful for their guidance as I worked to turn my dissertation into a relevant and readable manuscript. I would also like to thank Beverly A. McPhail, of the University of Houston, for her feedback; her comments helped improve the quality of the final product. In addition, I would like to thank the investigators, prosecutors, legislators, and members of special interest groups who served as respondents for this work. Without them, this research would not have been possible, and I appreciate their willingness to share their time and experiences with me. I would also like to thank my colleagues in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Missouri, Kansas City; they were all very supportive while I finished the manuscript, and I feel very blessed to be a part of the university. I also must thank Sam Scaggs, a graduate student there; his keen eye and attention to detail was an incredible help during the editing stage. I would also like to thank my dear friends and family who have helped me throughout the past several years. Without the encouragement of my “sister in crime,” Maggie Leigey, I am not sure I would have gotten through this process. She is an amazing scholar and friend. I owe...

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