ABSTRACT

Gender is the most important

variable in the prediction of
criminal behavior. Crime and
delinquency rates for males are
in excess of the rates for
females in all nations, for all
communities within a nation,
for all age groups, for all
periods of history for which
organized statistics are
available, and for all types of
crime except for a few which
are specific to women, e.g.,
prostitution, infanticide,
abortion. The article examines
the age-gender-crime
relationship, the types of crime
committed by women, women
and violent crime, the gender
factor in the criminal and
juvenile justice systems, and
women in corrections.

Class: - MBA 1st Semester

Section: - A
Roll No.: - 22
Department: - Institute of
Business
Administration
Submitted To: - Prof. Charu
“FEMALE CRIMINALITY’’

Project Report

Submitted By:-
Anamika
MBA 1st SEM
Sec A

Submitted To:-
Prof. Charu Khan

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 Declaration

I, ANAMIKA, hereby declare that the project work entitled “FEMALE CRIMINALIY” is a
record of independent and Bonafide project work carried out by me under the supervision and
guidance of Prof. Charu Khan, Department of MBA, CSJMU, KANPUR. The information
and data given in the report is authentic to the best of my knowledge. The report has not been
previously submitted for the award of any Degree, Diploma, Associate ship or other similar
title of any other university or institute

……………….
Date: 25/01/2023

Name: - ANAMIKA

Place- Kanpur

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 Acknowledgment

I wish to express my thanks to all the people who have helped and supported me in
Completion of my project report. Firstly, I would like to thank my mentor Mr. Pravin Kumar
Agarwal for his guidance, insights, and encouragement. I would also like to thank him for
dedicating his precious time towards my research. I would also like to thank all the other
faculty members of the institute for their constant guidance and advice during the project.
Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their constant support during the
course of the project.

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 Summary

This study investigated the causes and patterns of female criminality, using criminological
analysis. The origin of Criminology was devoted to studying “criminal man”, which means
that crime is primarily regarded as men’s activity, ignoring the fact that women can
perpetrate crime as well, even though at varying intensities and/or gravities. Yet, increasing
complexity and industrialization of the modern societies are accompanied with the
corresponding rise in female criminality. This trend calls for a shift in research frontiers from
studying “criminal man” to also include how and why crime is on the increase among female
population in order to chart a viable policy on crime prevention and control. Therefore, this
paper aimed to examine the variation of crime across gender lines and the rising crime rate
among females in come up with a gender-based crime prevention policy. The study used
secondary data and emphasis was placed on the current trend in female criminality in the
society. Liberation theory of female offender and situational crime prevention were adopted
in the paper. The paper found out that crime rate among women is on the increase against
family members and against the state. These offences include spousal murder, political
corruption and terrorism. The paper suggested that policy on crime prevention and control
among female should take into cognizance the role, position and experiences of females in

the family institution, the legal and other social structures. Thus, female crime prevention
and control shall include measures at the individual, family and societal levels.

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 CONTENTS
❖ CHAPTER-1

o Introduction

❖ CHAPTER-2

o Nature of female crimes

o Nature of female crime in India

❖ CHAPTER-3

o Scope

❖ CHAPTER-4

o Kind of offences
o Factors affecting female criminality

❖ CHAPTER-5

o Impact of feminist criminology

o Feminist perspective
 CHAPTER-6
o Causes of female crime
o Need for New Approach to prevent female criminality
 CHAPTER-7
o Global perspective
o Conclusion
 CHAPTER-8
o Reference

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 Chapter-1
INTRODUCTION
Man is believed to have evolved from an ape-like ancestor. With the evolution of man has
evolved his mind and thinking. Man started using the raw leaves, insects and animals as his
food. Later, on
discovery of fire, he learnt that food was tastier when cooked. He used animal skin to cover
his body. He stayed in caves to protect himself from the extremities of the climatic
conditions. From raw leaves to pizzas and burgers, from fire to micro-wave ovens, from
animal skins to peep jeans, Reebok shoes, etc and from caves to skyscrapers, we can see how
human mind and thinking has evolved and led to the modern day comfortable and luxurious
living. The thinking has evolved in both the positive as well as negative perspectives. Though
the human mind created luxuries, due to simultaneous in-crease in population, many people
were deprived of the basic necessities which led to the development of the negative thinking.
People wanted to fulfil their basic necessities at any cost and hence they started
resorting to crime. Crime is an offense which violates the law of state and is disapproved by
the
society. In olden days, the crime rate was not very high. But as time progressed, the crime
rate has increased alarmingly. This increase in crime rate may be due to various causes and
social problems. This article focuses on concept of crime, elements of crime, criminology,
various stages in commission of crime, causes of crime and types of crime.

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 Scope
Feminist criminology addresses the limitations which are there in the criminal justice system
and due to which there has been a failure to take consideration of the fact that there are some
important differences in the male and female path to enter into a crime, the types of crime,
the victimization and punishments faced by both of them. The study has been on the basis of
the responses to male offenders by the criminal justice system, and on male
criminality. According to the researchers, and those who studied criminology, it has always
been assumed that while studying a generic crime, it will be a study of male crime and a
crime committed by a woman would be kind of an aberration. This is how the practice was
criticized and there was the emergence of female criminology. In this article, the terms
‘Feminist’ and ‘Feminism’ are loosely defined, so that its reasonable for you to understand
the topic with a much wider perspective and also so that it is possible for a writer to explore
the nuances of this topic in a better way.

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 Chapter-2
Kinds of offences
As have been mentioned previously, the three broad kinds of offences that locate greater
involvement of female criminals in comparison to the males have been explained hereunder.

 Property offence

Property offences involve offences like theft, pick-pocketing, purse-chain snatching, shop-
lifting and cheating. Females can get tempted whenever they carry shopping bags, purses, etc
along with them. This can specifically be noticed among maid-servants who observe a lot of
objects around them while they work in someone’s house and that is what gives rise to the
urge of possessing something that belongs to someone else. This draws them towards
criminal activities. Lombroso in his book “The Female Offender” and Pollack have observed
that shoplifting is another kind of property offence that is feminine by nature, which is also
the result of desire. Further, Lombroso, and Smith in their book “Women in Prison: A study
in Penal Methods” took note that females commit property offences because they get the
scope for doing the same as they are involved in domestic work. Studies have noticed that
offences like cheating are often committed by male offenders with females being their
accomplices.

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  Offences against person

Rape, murder, kidnapping, abduction are offences that fall within the category of offences
against a person. In the case of females committing offences against individuals, it is relevant
to note the victim-offender relationship which appears to be meaningful in female homicide
due to the restrictive social environment of women in India. Homicide is at times the
consequence of prolonged frustration that a woman faces in her day-to-day life. As Ahuja
Ram and Pollock in their books “Female Offenders in India”, and “The Criminality of
Women” respectively, state that offences against persons involved cases in which the victim
was a member of the female criminal’s family. This shows the relevance of stressful
situations within a family which play a significant role in female criminality. When it comes
to the offence of kidnapping, females are mostly involved in selling their girl child, or
relatives in brothels.

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  Other offences

The category of “other offences” is not exhaustive, instead of inclusive by nature. In general,
“other offences” include the Immoral Traffic Act, 1956, NDPS Act, 1985 and Passport Act,
1967. The majority of the female offenders are used to accepting their earnings from
disapproved business practices. Offences of such sort are either carried out by the female
offenders independently, or by someone’s assistance, or they being an accomplice in certain
cases. To be involved in “other offences”, a female does not need to travel much, instead,
even by sitting at home, she can carry out illegal activities in the quest of earning profit. In
the Ferozepur central prison situated in the state of Punjab, the total capacity of the prison is
to house 1000 men and women but at the time of study in January- February 2010, there were
1600 men and women imprisoned in this prison. There were 81 women of which 31 were
convicts and 50 were under trial, living in two barracks.

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 FACTORS AFFECTING
FEMALE CRIMINALITY
A lot of economic, political, social, biological, and psychological factors affect women's
criminality. A few of them are briefly explained as under-

1. Biological Factors- Whether biological factors play any role in facilitating crimes is
still debatable but bio-chemical researchers suggest that biological factors such as
hormonal imbalances have an adverse effect on women's criminality. In the
pregnancy and menopausal stage, emotional changes of moods, anomalous craving
and impulses, and impermanent hindrance of awareness are some of the biological
and psychological factors that point toward criminal causation.
2. Industrialization And Modernization- As a result of industrialization and
modernization, old age social control mechanisms have ceased to have force. It is
assumed that the issue of female criminality exudes from the fast changes of the
society from past convention to innovation. The contentions made between social

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 objectives and institutional methods accessible to accomplish them lead to aggression
bringing about aberrance among women.
3. Personal Factors- Ill-treatment of women by their spouses, in-laws, or other relatives
can lead to the women resorting to criminal activities. Some of the personal factors
that can contribute to the crimes committed by the women are- lack of the woman in
love and family life, husband engaged in activities like drinking, gambling, etc.
4. Poverty- Poverty is a very big factor that accounts for female criminality especially in
India. The relevancy of poverty to female criminality is sufficiently highlighted
through certain judicial decisions.
5. Psychological Factors- Psychologists treat crime as a behaviour learned by the
criminal in the course of his contract with different persons. Upsetting circumstances,
maladjustments, discordant conjugal relations, strife inclined associations with
spouses and parents in law, and maladjustments in interpersonal relationships within
the family are causes found to be answerable for female criminality.
6. Social Factors- Social factors are extremely important factors that promote and
encourage female criminality in India. Lack of education, rivalry, strife, social
disorder portability, conjugal variables, terrible neighbourhood, and ill-conceived
parenthood is the different factors because of which criminality among women is
expanding.
7. Under-Age Employment and Bad Working Conditions- The lack of employment
may be a worrisome factor for adult males but under age employment and bad
working conditions are some of the major economic factors facilitating crimes
amongst women.
8. Women’s Emancipation- Women did not have access to resources as men in the
past. Be that as it may, as women are freed and have started infiltrating the workforce
or the social network where she was not previously permitted, she will have
opportunities to act criminal similarly that a male would be having.

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 Chapter-3
NATURE OF FEMALE
CRIMES
The natures of female crimes that have been the consequences of several postulations have
been provided hereunder;

� Education and nature of the offence

It has been observed that females who have not received basic education or are illiterate, lack
reasoning and logic in their activities that are reflected in their not so properly socialized
criminal instinct. Knowing the law and committing a crime via an unknown about the law
and committing an offence showcase that the former will be having an upper hand over the
latter. Studies which have been done by Ahuja, Rani, Nagla, Joseph, William and Christopher
have shown that when the literacy rate decreases, the crime rate increases. The studies make
it quite evident that in the prisons of Ferozepur, Jaipur, and Varanasi, the majority of women
were illiterate. While in Ferozepur the percentage of illiterate women was 67.7, the Varanasi
prison had 71 percent illiterate women and in Jaipur, 61.3 percent women were illiterate.

� Religion and nature of the offence

Human behaviour has always been influenced by the strong forces of religion, whichever
religion it may be. Therefore, it is through this religion only that the clues necessary to
understand the varying incidence of crime rate among different sections of the community
can be found out. India’s first convicted female serial killer was KD Kempamma who has
been familiar with the name of Cyanide Mallika. She killed six women over eight years. Her
way of killing people was by portraying herself as a pious deity which attracted a lot of
women to worship her. In return, she used to ask them to appear before her in their best
clothes, and jewellery and offered them cyanide to drink in the name of “holy water”. She
was eventually sentenced to death.

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 � Caste and nature of the offence

Caste plays an important role in determining the social status of a person in society. What can
be generally noticed is that the upper caste women are more drawn towards committing
offences against an individual when placed in comparison with women belonging to
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and N.T./D.T. (Nomadic Tribes /Denotified Tribes) who
are found to be more involved in committing property offences. What can be inferred from
such understanding is that the level of satisfaction, desire, and urge varies based on social
status and position.

� Marital status and nature of the offence

Marital status is necessary to be considered while discussing female offenders because it is

this status that connects a female with social responsibilities and fulfilling expectations which
becomes a pressure for the females. When such pressures turn the wrong way, the
consequences are criminal activities that are adopted by the females. Married women are
mostly involved in offences against persons whereas unmarried respondents show greater
involvement in offences related to property and other offences.

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 � Occupation and nature of the offence

Offences also vary among different females on the basis of the occupation they acquire. For
instance, women who are housewives are predominant over offences against individuals in
comparison to the females whose professions range from services to that of business, and
domestic help, as they incline more towards offences against property. On 18th February
2021, the Andhra Pradesh police arrested a woman and also took a minor into custody for
their alleged involvement in two different property offence cases. They were allegedly
stealing a bag that contained valuables of Rs 1.50 lakh, from a car that was parked in the
parking basement of a hotel situated near Beach Road. It is necessary to note that the woman
had already pursued her MBA degree, and was professionally a homemaker. This also says
that because the frustration, and pressure is more in being a housewife than a servicewoman,
the offences committed are also of a higher degree for the former in comparison to the latter.

� Income and nature of the offence

In this 21st century, many people of the society consider that economic independence is the
highest level of independence an individual can attain. Removal of dependency specifically
for women from that of the males in their family has a lot to do when it comes to the
discussion concerning female criminality. The income of an individual affects his or her
behaviour towards society. Crimes vary according to the same.

� Family and nature of the offence

Families play a pivotal role in shaping the personality, and values of an individual. It has
been often noticed that females coming from disturbed families tend to get involved more in
offences against individuals. Those with a background of a nuclear family are involved in
property offences whereas females coming from joint families are involved in offences
against persons. A woman in the southern Indian state of Kerala had confessed to killing six
family members within fourteen years by adding cyanide to their food. A popular member of
the community in Kozhikode, Jolly Thomas was allegedly motivated by wanting control of
the family finances and property that led her to commit the murder.

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 Nature of female crime in
India
Statistically speaking, crime amongst females is not a significant problem in India. Of the
total crimes committed in our country in 1998, about 5.4 per cent are committed by females
(Crime in India, 1998: 271). While between 1971 and 1980, the quinquennial average of
female crime was 29,300 (Surat Mishra and Aurora, 1982), between 1981 and 1990, it was
64,680. In 1998, of 26.57 lakh persons arrested for crimes under the Indian Penal Code in the
country, 1.43 lakh (or 5.4%) were females (ibid: 271). It is true that there has been increase in
female criminality from 1971 onwards. From 1.7 per cent in 1971, female crimes under the
IPC increased to 1.9 per cent in 1978, 3.1 per cent in 1990, 3.5 per cent in 1992, and 5.4 per
cent in 1998; but this increase is not so high when compared to the increase in male
criminality. While incidence of crime under the IPC among males increased by 9.44 per cent
during the period from 1953 to 1963, by 63.49 per cent during 1963 to 1973, by 25.2 per cent
during 1973 to 1983, by 20.7 per cent during 1983 to 1993, and by 9.2 per cent during the
period from 1993 to 1998, the IPC crime among females increased by 48.5 per cent from
1983 to 1993 and by 50.4 per cent from 1993 to 1998 (ibid., 16; 1993: 153). Thus,
statistically, female criminality is not yet a serious social problem for our society. There are
more female crimes in America, England, France, Canada, Japan, Thailand, etc. in
comparison to India. For example, against nine female crimes per one lakh of population in
India, there are 1,154 crimes in America, 561 in West Germany, 316 in Thailand, 138 in
France, and 133 in Japan. The general crime rate (i.e., males and females together) per one
lakh of population in 1998 in different countries was: India: 636, Canada: 8,452, England:
10,403, America: 5,897, Japan: 1,459, France: 6,095, Germany: 7,868 and Austria: 5,940
(Crime in India, 1998: 23)]. Sociologically, however, female crime in India may be
considered a crucial problem because of its impact on the upbringing of children, and the
overall fabric of society. The difference in the rate of male and female crime is basically the
result of the difference in their respective roles. The basic role of wage-earning by men is
performed outside the home for which they have to compete with others. In the process of
competition, sometimes when they are not able to achieve their goal through legitimate

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means, they use illegitimate means. On the other hand, the basic role of a householder is
performed by women within the four walls of home for which they have not to compete with
anybody and are not forced to use anti-social means for achieving their goal. Moreover,
compared to men, women are more god-fearing, moral and tolerant. They are also subject to
greater social restrictions. Further, some crimes require masculine skills and techniques or
active independence on the part of the offender and the use or threat of violence (e.g., auto-
thefts, chain-snatching, etc.). Women’s participation in such crimes is very low. Lastly, the
police and the courts take a more sympathetic attitude towards female offenders. In short, the
important factors of difference in rate of male and female crime may be described as: (i)
differential sex role expectations, (ii) sex differences in socialisation Patterns and application
of social control, (iii) differential opportunities to engage in crime, (iv) differential access to
criminal subcultures and careers, and (v) sex differences built into crime categories (see, Dale
Hoffman Bustamante, “The Nature of Female Criminality”, in Issues in Criminology, Fall
1973: 117-36).

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 Impact of feminist
criminology
Feminist writing has enhanced the discipline of Feminist Criminology is 4 main ways. These
are:

1. Neglecting female offenders- The previous criminology’s have neglected the fact that
offenders can be both male and female. There has been an assumption that whenever
we are talking about ‘offenders’, they’ll be males. Also, the discussion on female
offenders laid enriched individual or biological abnormality. They were explained in
terms of biological factors.
2. Bringing attention to the treatment of females within the criminal justice system of the
country is another significant impact of feminist writing. It has helped in changing the
old and vague assumption of “common sense”, by challenging the historical concept
of female benefiting from chivalry within the male-dominated society and thus having
more lenient sentences.
3. Due to the advent of feminist ideology, the much-neglected areas of legal study have
started to gain attention. For instance, crimes like domestic violence and female
sexual abuse, which are faced by women, sometimes, even at their ‘supposedly’ safe
home. Female writing has helped in protecting girls and women against male violence
and has raised questions about how the victims or the survivors can be supported.
4. Last, but not the least, the focus has been made to the highly gendered nature of the
criminal activities, and thus, raising the questions like ‘why is it the females who
commit only a few offences, and male offences are so many?’ There is a femininity
which has been associated with these relatively low rates of crime, and the males
being predicted as the most likely offender. As we have already observed in the
previous sub-topic, and will further learn more about feminist criminology, we will
realise that the criminal justice system needs to learn from the feminist ideas and it’s
also the responsibility of the social workers to contribute in this process of
reformation.

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 Feminist Perspective
Before we learn in detail about the theories of feminist criminology, feminist explanation of
female crime, impact and statistics, etc, we should first know the ‘need’ and ‘importance’ of
studying feminist perspectives within criminology. The reason behind this is that criminology
and related studies have ignored women to a large extent. There has been masculine
domination on the development and construction of criminological knowledge, and its
dissemination. It is hardly a satisfying and logically correct response to say that women are
not the only ones to be ignored, and the exclusion of females from the study calls for some
fundamental questions which need to be addressed on the adequacy of analyses being
done. Also, whenever the criminologists talk about women as offenders, they do it in a very
stereotypical way and consider women who commit crimes, i.e., women offenders are
abnormal. In simpler words, they have usually been displayed on the basis of their biological
nature and their psychological state. Now, you must be thinking that all we need to do to
solve this problem is to do a crash course of research on women, and feminist criminology.
Well, the truth is that it has already been done and carried out by various scholars,
professionals, institutions and feminists them. As of now, it is time for the feminists who
work within criminology to carry out more research on women, but not just by accumulating
surveys and other pieces of information, rather analysing the frameworks of feminist

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criminology outside the place of solidarity. Thus, we need to deconstruct the existing
frameworks on criminology’s and reconstruct them, while giving core attention to the
prevalent female enterprise.

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 Chapter-4
Causes of Female Crime
No individual is a born criminal, it is the situations and the conditions around the individual
which make him act as a criminal. There are several causes which make an individual turn
into a criminal.
The main causes of crime are:

✈ Social causes

the social causes of crime include the following:

i. Family plays the most important role in an individual’s life. In olden days, there were
joint families and there was always a family control on the children. In urban areas today,
each member of the family is busy pursuing their own paths. The children are neglected
and family control is lifted up and hence there are no restrictions. Individuals who are a
part of nuclear families and broken families resort to crimes due to lack of love, affection
and proper attention.
ii. Too much strictness causes heavy influence on minds of the children. Scolding and
abusing children causes humiliation and irritation in children and they become
delinquents. Moral values are imported to children by their parents. It is the duty of the
parents to nourish their children in healthy circumstances. If the parents resort to illegal
acts, the children will also do the same. A child is first influenced by his parents and then
by his own brothers and sisters. If they resort to illegal acts such as selling block tickets at
cinema theatres, the younger ones also tend to do the same acts.
iii. Lack of proper education results in poor judgment and the individual will fail to
distinguish between right and wrong. Ethical and religious education has no place in the
modern education system. Even after completing education, many individuals remain
unemployed. Late employment leads to late marriage increasing criminal activity.
Iv. Cinemas and newspapers have led to an increase in criminal activity. The hype created
by the media relating to different crimes, modus operandi and the consequences motivate
young individuals to resort to crimes.
v. The consumption of alcohol and use of drugs of abuse are the most important causes of

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 crime. Under the influence of alcohol and drugs, the person loses his sense of
discrimination between good and bad and right and wrong and hence commits crime. This
not only affects the individual but also his entire family.
vi. A marriage where a girl or boy dislikes his partner & remains unhappy and may force
individuals to commit suicides. Dowry system is also a main cause of crime.
vii. In poorer sections of society, parents do not follow family planning and they have a
large number of children. But they are unable to fulfill the basic necessities of children
due to their meager income. To fulfill their basic necessities, these children become preys
of pick-pocketing, smuggling, prostitution, etc.
viii. Wars in different countries create unbearable social and economic circumstances.
The individuals who lose their parents and loved ones during war become prey to bad
habits.
ix. Disorganization in the society or country may affect badly upon the people’s living.
For example, prior to Britishers, Indian villages were very peaceful and self- sufficient.
Due to the British rule in India, rapid changes such as industrialization, urbanization, etc.
occurred. Joint families disappeared and nuclear families came in. Unemployment
increased. India was split into 3 countries, i.e., India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. During
the partition, immigrants flew from one country to another. The immigrants had no food,
livelihood. To earn livelihood, these immigrants started illegal acts such as smuggling,
weapon- selling, etc. Social disorganization causes decline in the effectiveness of
institutional and informal forces and weakens the social control in communities or
neighborhoods.

✈ Biological causes

The biological viewpoint of female criminality can be understood with the help of various
observations as having been provided hereunder;

1. The contribution of Caesar Lombroso is considered the root of the scientific study on
female criminality. His views state that “female deviance as rooted in the biological
makeup or as an inherent feature of the female species”. Put simply, Lombroso
observed that female criminals are much more terrible in comparison to male
offenders because of the refined and diabolic traits that female cruelty possesses and
which is very unlikely to present in a cruel act by a male.

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 2. Lombroso & Ferrero in their book “The Female Offender” (1895) put forth the
thought that biologically females are considered to be morally deficient and lack the
intelligence to participate in the crime. However, it appears that in the case of Indian
women, this observation weakens as females in India are inclined towards committing
more crimes as a consequence of their socio-economic deprivation since childhood.
3. Pollack’s view in his book “The Criminality of Women” (1950), elucidated the effect
of hormonal changes during menstruation, menopausal stage and pregnancy period of
the females as a contributory factor in the commission of crimes. Mood swings,
abnormal cravings, impulses are the major factors behind frustration in a female
leading her to commit an offence. The three thoughts that have been put forth,
provides a picture of crime as an inherent human trait. With technology merging with
the daily lives of humans, the theories that have been discussed above seem to be
unreasonable and unscientific to some extent.

✈ Psychological causes

The psychological viewpoint can be best understood by a non-fictional reference which is the
story of Phoolan Devi, a well-known dacoit of the Chambal valley. Being subjected to
unfortunate incidents during her childhood, Phoolan Devi remains a classic example of the
negative effect of incidents like harassment, harsh living conditions, rape, prolonged beating
that had caused her to be framed as the most wanted criminal by the police authorities. The

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idea that females are supposed to be passive, fails to apply in reality. From “supposed to be”,
the passive trait changes its nature to “has to be”. Thus, when something turns around from
being a choice to that of a necessity, anger, feelings and frustration starts burdening a female.
The consequence of such burdening is a female turning herself from a victim to that of a
victimizer. This viewpoint is noticed to be applicable in the Indian scenario as crimes here are
majorly committed by females because of depression and frustration.

✈ Sociological causes

The sociological viewpoint is one such ideology that can be related in a much more
convenient way in comparison to the previous two viewpoints. Inequality is faced by women
all over the world in every phase of their life. The major reason behind such disparity is
social oppression and dependency on men in every aspect of their lives. The four major
convenors of this viewpoint have been provided below;

1. Klein in his writing “The ethnology of female crime: A review of the literature”
(1973) mentions that offences such as shoplifting, abortions, sexual crimes, poisoning
of family members, etc., may not only be psychological in nature but can also be
viewed from socio-economic lenses.
2. Adler in “Sisters in Crime: The Rise of the New Female Criminal” (1975), studied
prostitution, drug addiction, and juvenile law-breaking among females. By doing the
same she endorsed such crimes as being the first step towards the liberation
movement of females and their assertiveness.
3. C. Sharma in “Crime and Women: A Psycho-Diagnostic Study of Female
Criminality” (1963) summarized the main causes of frustrations among females that is
the reason behind the commission of crimes.
4. Writers like Bilimoria, and Kuckreja in their works “A Socio-Demographic Study of
Women Prisoners” (1987), and “A Socio-Demographic Study of Women Prisoners”
(1986) respectively stated that role conflict in families has been the catalyst in female
criminality. Thus, the role of the family in female criminality has been evident and a
proven fact.

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 NEED FOR A NEW
APPROACH TO PREVENT
FEMALE CRIMINALITY
The following are some of the steps and measures that can be useful for the prevention of
female criminality in India-

● Amendment of laws

● Community-Based Prevention Programs

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 ● Crime Prevention Institutions at Community Level

● Interdisciplinary research in the field of female criminality.

● Keeping a check on gender discrimination in the families, school and workplaces

● Learning Programs for Female Offenders and Rehabilitation

● Reformation of the criminal justice system

● Rehabilitation and Reintegration

● Reintegration of Women Offenders

● Responsible Media

● Sex Education

● Sharing of social and domestic roles by men and women equally instead of
demarcating the same.

An imperative to make effective procedures towards the consideration, treatment, and

restoration of female offenders is incredible and for these researches and publications
identified with female wrongdoing ought to be promptly received by the strategy creators, the
scholastic circle, and the public throughout the world. Women are valuable for humanity, for
country building and for the perpetuation of civilization and so every individual must
contribute to their development and prosperity by expelling all the hindrances in the way of
their advancement.

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 Chapter-5
Global Perspective
Before coming to any conclusion, and talking about the challenges which still persist in this
arena, it is more than reasonable for everyone to understand the feminist criminology from a
global perspective and taking into consideration the criminologist’s study from across the
world on this subject. The focus on violence against women is no doubt a hallmark which has
been actively used to highlight the problems on an international level. To name a few other
topics, the abuse on women in Islamic countries, the traditional practices against humanity
like female genital mutilation are also the focus areas which act as a base for the need to
further study feminist criminology and women’s victimization across the globe. Also, another
important contribution of the study of feminist criminology will help us understand how the
criminal justice policies around the world, often victimize women and even sanction them for
supposedly ‘violating’ the traditional gender norms, particularly with regards to their
sexuality. For instance, in some Islamic and Muslim-dominated countries, the women who
have unfortunately been raped/sexually abused are often viewed and treated as ‘offenders’
rather than a victim. The ideology is that they had violated the expectations regarding
women’s sexuality.

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 Conclusion
Crime and criminal both have lived in society since time immemorial. However, until
recently the commission of those crimes was limited to only men. In traditional society,
female criminality was seen as a unique matter to society. The scenario has changed for a few
decades. The rising female criminality nowadays is viewed by many as the reaction, the
retaliation, the ultimate method of self-preservation. The impact of female criminality can be
seen on the individual, on the family, and on the society at large. Hence, more research needs
to be done on this topic and laws should also be amended accordingly. There has been a
considerable rise in the rate of female criminality over the years. Technology, exposure, and
awareness have added to the rise. But it is necessary to prevent crimes from taking place in
society irrespective of the gender of the offender. Therefore, preventive measures such as
legal awareness, sex education, social action movement, pre-marital, and post-marital
counselling, public awareness, help, and support to the females who feel left out or lonely by
their families, etc must be adopted by appropriate authorities, educational institutes, and
media to curb the excessive increase in female criminals in the society. Further, female
criminals who have been detained must be provided with proper rehabilitative and supportive
advice which can help them develop their personality, and make them acknowledge what is
right, and what has been categorized as wrong. These constrictive steps can help female
criminality to take a positive turn towards slowing down, gradually.

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 References

1. https://www.sascv.org/ijcjs/pdfs/milietalijcjs2015vol10issue1.pdf
2. https://wol.iza.org/articles/women-in-crime/long
3. https://www.nap.edu/read/5127/chapter/4
4. https://www.preservearticles.com/education/what-is-the-nature-of-female-crime-in-
india/28869
5. https://www.sascv.org/ijcjs/pdfs/milietalijcjs2015vol10issue1.pdf
6. https://sacj.weebly.com/index.html
7. https://ncrb.gov.in/
8. http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com
9. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24445-4

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