The visibility of male-dominated criminal violence differs substantially from culture to culture, Accordingly, a perception of masculinity and male-dominated violence as monolithic categories is misleading. Australian, German and Japanese data display significant variations in the visibility of violence against women. In a conceptualization of "hegemonic masculinity" in the context of sexual assault the visibility of the rapist in Australia is interpreted as a consequence of economic and cultural crises of gender relations causing a transformation of hegemonic masculinity. Historical and political constellations in Germany and Japan result in the visibility of different features of male-dominated violence. As far as violence and masculinities are concerned, the study of variations is more promising than the continued use of a monolithic understanding of masculinity in the tradition of binary concepts of "male" and "female." Notes, references