Gender and Assault
All of the assaults reported except one are perpetrated by men. The gender of victim varies, and is somewhat evenly split between male and female. The only assault committed by a woman was against another woman, who was older, and her employer.
A black girl was “publicly whipped by her father” with a thick switch after an assault on an “aged lady.” This whipping was the alternative to being prosecuted for the crime. The incident is rather unusual by historical standards, as it crosses a social boundary. The aged woman, in a superior position, had scolded the girl for “not doing the family washing in a proper manner,” and the girl grew upset and assaulted her. The details of the assault on the older lady are not relayed, nor is the punishment of the offender, giving this story a more objective tone. Even the punishment, public though it was, was not sensationalized. Other than her father, only four other people were present for the whipping, all there for legal purposes.
This pattern does not differ much over time- most of the assaults against women are sexual assaults, while none of the reported assaults against men are sexual in nature.