The Intersectionality of Asian Americans’ Violent and Non-Violent Victimization Before and During the Pandemic

Abstract

While a spike in victimization against Asian Americans has been noticed during the pandemic, the intersectionality of key sociodemographic traits among Asian American victims has received limited research attention, especially when comparing before and during the pandemic patterns. This study explores the role of intersecting identities, including gender, age, and immigrant status, in violent and non-violent crime victimization among Asian Americans. We used data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (2017–2023) and employed negative binomial regression with a three-way interaction. We found that, before the pandemic, non-violent incidents were more likely to occur in private locations but less likely to occur at night, involving stranger offenders, or farther from home. During the pandemic, while private locations and distance from home continued to shape the rate of non-violent incident as during pre-pandemic, having a college degree decreased the rate of non-violent victimization. For violent victimization, none of the incident and individual characteristics were significant predictors before the pandemic, whereas nighttime and being female, immigrant, and elderly increased the rate of violent incident victimization. Interaction terms are ineffective in predicting pre-pandemic victimization, but are associated with violent victimization, with female immigrants, elderly female, and elderly immigrants generally less inclined to be violently victimized than their male immigrant, younger female, and younger immigrant counterparts, yet elderly female immigrants are more likely to be violently victimized than their younger female immigrant counterparts. Future research directions and policy implications are discussed. Our findings highlight the need for targeted policies to protect Asian American subgroups at higher risk of violent victimization during the pandemic. Strengthening law enforcement efforts, enhancing public safety initiatives, and implementing culturally tailored support programs can help mitigate these risks and improve protections for vulnerable populations.