CIP School in the Phils.

“WOMEN” love to file “CHARGES” on “YOU” for any “CRIME”

on September 11, 2014

Women Offenders

Population estimates from the Census

Bureau for July 1, 1998, indicate that

women account for more than half the

population age 10 or older:

Both genders 230,861,000 100.0%

Females 119,010,000 51.6

Males 111,851,000 48.4

The racial and ethnic composition of

the general population age 10 or older

varies slightly when males and females

are compared. Non-Hispanic black

females outnumber non-Hispanic black

males by nearly 1.9 million, accounting

for more than a quarter of the total

difference in the number of males and

females in the general population.

Minorities compose a slightly higher

percentage of the female population

(26.2%) than of the male population

(25.9%). Nearly a third of the disparity

in the number of females versus males

in the general population is accounted

for by the larger number of minority


The average age of females in the

general population is about 2½ years

older than that of males. The largest

age disparity, about 3 years, is found

among black non-Hispanic females

compared to black non-Hispanic

males. Among females, Hispanic

women have the lowest average age,

29.6 years, while white non-Hispanic

women have the highest, 39.6 years.

Nearly 3 in 4 violent

victimizations committed

by female offenders were

simple assaults; just over

half the violence of male

offenders is described as

simple assault.

The rate of male violent

offending translated into

about 1 violent offender for every 9

males age 10 or older in the general

population; the rate of female violent

offending was equal to about 1 violent

offender for every 56 females age 10

or older.

Per capita rates of offending among

both males and females decreased

from the peak rates recorded in 1994.

Rates of committing violent crime in

1997 were 29% lower for males and

25% lower among females.

Characteristics of violent female


More than half of female violent

offenders were described by victims

as white, and just over a third were

described as black. About 1 in 10 were

described as belonging to another race

(Asian, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian,

American Indian, Aleut, or


Black and white offenders accounted

for nearly equal proportions of women

committing robbery and aggravated

assault; however, simple assault

offenders were more likely to be

described as white.

Among violent female offenders, 53%

committed the offense while alone, and

40% were with others, all of whom

were female. Among male offenders,

47% were alone, and 51% were with

other males when the offense

occurred. About 8% of violent female

offenders committed their offense

together with at least one male

offender; by contrast, about 1% of male

violent offenders committed the offense

in the company of a female offender.

2 Women Offenders

Total population 119,010,000 111,851,000

Non-Hispanic 0.7 0.7

Hispanic 0.1% 0.1%

American Indian/Alaska Native

Non-Hispanic 3.6 3.5

Hispanic 0.2% 0.2%

Asian/Pacific Islander

Non-Hispanic 12.1 11.2

Hispanic 0.6% 0.6%


Non-Hispanic 73.8 74.1

Hispanic 8.8% 9.5%


Females Males

Percent of U.S. population

age 10 or older, 1998

Gender, race, and Hispanic origin

in the U.S. population

Simple assault 1,533,000 7,187,000 18

Aggravated assault 435,000 3,419,000 11

Robbery 157,000 2,051,000 7

Sexual assault 10,000 442,000 2

All 2,135,000 13,098,000 14%

Offense Female Male offenders

Women as

a percent

of violent

Average annual number

of offenders reported

by victims, 1993-97

Violent crimes committed by females and males

1997 99 15 6.5

1996 107 19 5.7

1995 124 19 6.4

1994 140 20 7.0

1993 135 19 7.1

Male Female male:female

Ratio of



Offending rates:

Number of offenders

per 1,000 residents

Table 3

Table 2

Table 4

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997






Number of violent offenders per 1,000 residents

Women (rate times 7)


Fig. 2

Fig. 1




0% 20% 40% 60%

Percent of female offenders








Fig. 3

30 or older





Under 12

0% 20% 40%

Age of offender

Percent of violent female offenders

Victims of violence provided very

similar descriptions of their perceptions

of the ages of both female and male

violent offenders. For each age group


juveniles, young adults, and those

30 or older

& victims reported little

variation in offender age between the

two genders.

Juveniles accounted for about 28% of

female violent offenders, nearly identical

to the juvenile percentage (26%)

found among violent male offenders.

Characteristics of victims

of female violent offenders

Overall, female-to-female violence

accounted for 11% of all violent offenders

described by victims. An additional

3% of violent offenders were women

who attacked males.

Violent offenders most often victimized

persons of the same gender. More

than 3 out of 4 female offenders had a

female victim; about 7 out of 10 males

had a male victim. About 29% of violent

offenders had a victim of a different

gender; 9 out of 10 of these offenders

were males with female victims.

Male and female violent offenders

differed substantially in their relationship

to those they victimized. An

estimated 62% of female violent

offenders had a prior relationship with

the victim as an intimate, relative, or

acquaintance. By contrast, about 36%

of male violent offenders were

estimated to have known the victim.

Victims who were intimates accounted

for an identical percentage of both

male and female violent offenders.

When women committed their violent

offense against men, 35% of the

offenders attacked an intimate or

relative. By contrast, 8% of victimizations

of other females involved

intimates or family members. For both

male and female victims, the proportion

of female offenders attacking strangers

was the same.

Where offenders committed

violence and use of drugs or alcohol

For nearly half of female offenders,

the violent offense took place either

at or near the victim’s home or at

school. Less than a third of male

offenders carried out their crimes

in these locations.

According to victim self-reports, female

offenders account for about 1 in 4

offenders committing violence at a

school. Women were also estimated

to account for about 1 in 8 violent

offenders in the workplace and 1 in 6

violent offenders committing the

offense in the victim’s home.

There were few differences between

male and female violent offenders in

victim perceptions of drug or alcohol

use at the time of the offense. About 4

in 10 male and female violent offenders

were reported by victims to have been

using alcohol, drugs, or both at the time

of the offense.

Consequences of female violence

The consequences of male violence

were generally more serious for the

victim in terms of weapon use, injury,

and out-of-pocket losses to the victim.

Male offenders were more likely than

female offenders (28% to 15%) to have

used a weapon such as a blunt object,

knife, or firearm in the commission of

the violent offense.

Serious injuries, such as broken bones,

being knocked unconscious, concussions,

knife wounds, or gunshot

wounds, were slightly more associated

with male offenders; however, the likelihood

of hospital treatment for the

victims of male and female offenders

was about the same. An estimated

865,000 violent offenders were responsible

for crimes against victims whose

injuries resulted in hospital treatment;




Women and Crime

According to a self-report study, women were less likely than men to have offended and commited a crime in the last year (11% compared with 26%). Women ‘grow out of crime’ – they are most likely to desist from offending in their late teens. The peak age of reported offending for girls was 14. (The peak age of recorded offending for girls was 15, compared to 19 for men). Criminal statistics show that, in 2002, only 19% of known offenders were women. Theft and handling is the most common indictable offence for women accounting for 57% of known female offenders in 2002. Female arrestees identified as having drug problems are more likely than men to have received drug treatment, spend more money on drugs, report recent use of more harmful drugs and are more often referred to a drug rehabilitation unit.

16% of those arrested for notifiable offences are women but the proportion is higher for fraud and forgery (27%) and theft and handling (22%). Research suggests that following arrest , women are more likely than men to be cautioned and are less likely to have their cases classified as ‘No Further Action’ or be charged. This partly reflects the fact that women are more likely than men to admit their offences and to be arrested for less serious offences.

When sentencing is concerned women are more likely than men to be discharged or given a community sentence for indictable offences and are less likely to be fined or sentenced to custody. Women sentenced to custody on average receive shorter sentences on average than men.

Top crimes women are most associated with:

  1. Theft from shops
  1. ‘Other’ wounding
  1. Robbery
  1. Burglary of all kinds
  1. ‘Other’ fraud
  1. Production, supply and possession with intent
  1. To supply a Class A controlled drug
  1. Summary motoring offences
  1. Handling stolen goods

Women prisoners make up just over 6% of the prison population. There were, on average, 4,299 women in prison in 2002. Between 1992 and 2002, the average population of women in custody rose by 173% as against 50% for men, reflecting sentencing changes at the courts.

Many women in prison have committed only minor offences and pose very little risk to their communities. Some argue that imprisoning a woman can have a disastrous effect on her family as well as herself. Additionally, the large number of women being sentenced to short-term prison sentences for minor offences has led to a general over-crowding problem in women only prisons.

A number of studies have reported on the background of women offenders. They found that most women offenders are mothers who have no work outside the home and had problems at school and left with few qualifications. Most are on state benefits and in debt and have accommodation problems and have experienced some form of abuse and suffered psychological distress and have serious problems with alcohol and drug misuse. A good number of women prisoners have been in local authority care as children and some have lost the care of their own children.

Why are more women being arrested and sentenced in 2011? One of the theories that has been forwarded is the ‘Masculinity Theory’.

It is generally accepted that men commit more crime than women; a statistic that has led many to look for an explanation for such disparity between the sexes. One explanation has proposed that masculinity and crime are inherently linked, and apparent increases in female offending in recent years has led some to conclude that this must be the result of women’s increased masculinity. Research aimed at identifying this increase has failed to yield consistent results. This study utilised a self-perception measure of masculinity and femininity to explore this idea with four groups of women. A total of ninety-seven violent female offenders, non-violent female offenders, full time mothers and professional women were questioned.

Results found that offenders perceived themselves as possessing significantly more masculine characteristics than non-offenders, and that violent offenders perceived themselves as the most masculine. Specifically, more offenders perceived themselves as glamorous, adventurous and rude, and more violent offenders thought of themselves as aggressive. Perceptions of a ‘typical women’ were also measured in an attempt to measure how different participants viewed themselves from other women. All of our women saw ‘the typical woman’ as more feminine and less masculine than themselves.

What could stop this increase in female offending?

The Ministry of Justice wants to look at the following areas:

Targeting anti-social attitudes and anger, self-control, family processes (e.g. affection and supervision). The removal of anti-social friends was associated with reductions in women’s re-offending rates.

Targeting general educational needs was associated with a reduction in women’s re-offending.

The evidence of in-prison drug treatment for women is mixed, but overall programmes based on cognitive behavioural approaches were more promising than those based on therapeutic community models.

Residential treatment after prison enhanced the effects of prison-based treatment.

There was some evidence that discharge or transitional planning and continuity of input from prison to community reduced reconviction rates among high risk women.



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