Feminist Criminology

FOUNDATIONS OF FEMINIST CRIMINOLOGY

There are many kinds of feminism, each with its own unique focus. The 6 main feminist perspectives are:

  1. Liberal: equality through political and legal reform (women have the same rights and opportunities as men, advocating for equal treatment and access in all areas of society) 

  2. Radical: patriachy as the root cause of women’s oppresion, focus on transforming or dismantling patriacial structures (patriachy: social system where men hold most of the power, men are the default) 

  3. Marxist: women’s oppresion stemming directly from capitalism, economic dependence of women in men, true gender equality can only be achieved by overthrowing capitalist systems that exploit labor and reinforce gender roles 

  4. Socialist: opression rooted in both, gender and class interact to produce inequality, must address the economic and social systems

  5. Post-Modern: no single experience of being a woman, identities are fluid, questions women-men binary

  6. Intersectional: gender intersects with other social categories like race, class, etc., must consider racism, classism, colonialism to understand feminism 

Common Features: women face discrimination because of their gender, face inequality, changes are required for social structures and institution, common drive to equity and justice

Waves of Feminism

  • 1st late 1800 - early 1900: focused on women’s right to vote 

  • 2nd 1960s: gender equality, attention to domestic violence, reproductive rights, workplace discrimination, and lack of women in the discipline of criminology (equal pay, education)

  • 3rd 1990-2010: diverse and varied experiences of dicrimination and sexism, inclusive feminism

*feminism makes a difference between sex (based on sexual reproduction) and gender (social construct)'

CRITIQUES OF EXISTING CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY

  • Emergence of feminist criminology in the 1970’s led to a focus on how women were (un)accounted for in existing theory.

  • Mainly male theories, call for theories by women for women

  • Three paths that had been taken by theories of crime regarding female offending to this point were:

            1. Misogynistic - Lombroso discussed women being less evolved than men, women criminals seen having masculine traits

            2. Gender Blind - theories that neglect to consider gender differences in crime, often treating male behavior as the standard and failing to address the unique social and psychological factors affecting female offenders, female experience was made invincible

            3. ‘Add Women and Stir’ - did not explain how women and men act differently, must consider the unique experiences that women go through 

VICTIMIZATION

  • Domestic violence/violence agsinst women is one of the key issues that brought feminist criminology to the surface

  • Gender-based violence (GBV) is disproportionately experienced by women in Canada

  • The disproportionality increases when women are looking at minority women, particularly Indigenous women

GENDER-RELATED HOMICIDE OF WOMEN/GIRLS IN CANADA

COURT OUTCOMES ASSOCIATED WITH GENDER-RELATED HOMICIDES OF WOMEN/GIRLS IN CANADA

SEXUALIZED VIOLENCE

  • The majority of victims of sexualized violence are women

  • Disproportionately higher rates of victimization amongst

            1. Women with disabilities

            2. Bisexual and transgender women

            3. Racialized women

  • Intersectional analyses of gender-based violence is crucial 

  • Victim blaming is prevalent when the victim is female 

WOMEN’S EXPERIENCES OF VICTIMIZATION IN CANADA’S REMOTE COMMUNITIES

  • Recent juristat articles have focused heavily on women’s experiences of victimization and perceptions of safety

  • Greater difficulty accessing resources in rural areas, leading women more vulnerable 

  • Strong focus on intimate partner violent and the experiences of younger women, visible minority, women with disabilities, and Indigenous women

  • Sexual and child abuse more common in women in remote communities

CRIMINALIZATION OF WOMEN

  • Criminology has historically focused on men as offenders

  • Must consider unique pathways of women as offenders

  • Some theories that have attempted to explain female offending

            1. Liberation Thesis: connects women’s liberation to increase in women’s crime, considered women and women’s engagement in crime outside of the biological realm 

            2. Power-Control Theory: explains that gender gaps in crime by linking power dynamics to different levels of parental supervision and control, suggests that in patriachal families where the father is more control, the daughter gets controlled which makes them less likely to commit crime

            3. Cycle of Violence and/or Pathways Theories:  these theories suggest that experiences of abuse, victimization, and trauma can lead women into criminal behavior, highlighting the impact of social environments and personal histories in shaping criminal pathways 

CRIME STATISTICS ON WOMEN

  • In 2017, female offenders accounted for ¼ of all police reported crime in Canada

  • Property crime is most common

  • Women are less likely than men to be charged with a violent crime, sex crimes against children, and homicide

  • Indigenous women are overrepresented in homicide stats (higher stats in indigenous women than indigenous men) 

INCARCERATION OF WOMEN

  • Several commisions and reports have documented the troubling conditions incarcerated women in Canada face:

            1. Brown Commision (1849) - criticized the punishment and abuse of women, especially when putting women and men in incarceration 

            2. Archambault Report (1938) - 

            3. Subcommitee on the Penitentiary System (1977) - 

            4. Creating Choices Report (1990) - 

            5. Arbour Inquiry (1996) -

FEDERALLY SENTENCED WOMEN: OFFICE OF THE CORRECTIONAL INVESTIGATOR

Issues of Concern 

  • Programming for federally sentenced women

  • Impacts of crowding at regional women’s facilities

  • Management of ‘high needs’ women offenders

  • Self-injurious behaviour

  • Profile of federally sentenced women

  • Governance and accountability of women’s corrections

  • Classification of women offenders

Treatment of Women in the Criminal Justice System

  • Women are often victimized when they are incarcerated

  • Women’s incarceration is often for behaviour that is a response to their experiences of trauma (trauma can be associated with mental illness)

  • Programming is designed for men - most programs don’t address gender diversity

  • What is needed?