women and criminal justice

Women and Criminal Justice

Dr. Paula Prior

CCJ 4670 - 003

20 September 2020

Flash Reflection One

Question 1: Describe your thoughts and experiences on how crime affects women differently than men and contrast that with what is described in the course materials.

As a male, I am not in the best position to describe how crime affects women, but I am in a position to talk about how crime affects me and how it matches up with what the course materials say about women. The beginning of our course’s textbook talks about gendered justice which explains how each gender is treated differently in the justice system, with women irrefutably being treated worse historically. While I may not be a woman to relate to this on a personal level, it is widely understood that women have had significantly more struggles than men in terms of civil rights and even human rights. However, more so than troubles within the justice system itself, women have had plenty of issues with the crime that causes them to go there in the first place. Men are overall more affected by crime than women when looking at the total numbers in the various types of crimes, but this does not mean that all crime is spread evenly among the genders (Mallicoat, 24). Women are more likely to be affected by things like domestic violence and sex-related crimes as opposed to men who are more affected by drug and gang-related crimes. Given the sensitive nature of the crimes that affect women, they are often afraid to speak out against their abusers for various reasons explored in this module. Among these reasons are things like victim-blaming, shame, or retaliation from their abusers. This leads to women staying silent about crimes committed against them and only causes matters to become worse. As used as an example in Module A, the Harvey Weinstein case is a famous example of women who were suppressed for decades, unable to speak out against their abuser. The reason Weinstein got away with his crime for so long is the same reason a lot of other rich and powerful men get away with it, which is fear. The 1990s and 2000s were an extremely dangerous time to speak out against abusers not only because of further abuse but also because no one believed women. It was only in recent times that women have begun to speak out against these crimes and thus encourage more and more women to do so as well. This is why I believe there are so many men in power being accused of sexual assault now as society is more open to listening to women. Overall, it is harder for women to get justice for crimes committed against them than crimes committed against men. This does not mean that the tide isn’t turning though, with recent movements like the “#MeToo” movement encouraging women from all walks of life to talk about their stories and hopefully bring some closure and justice to the trauma they faced.

Question 2: Consider the theories to explain female victimization that were covered in this module. Which of them do you find the most convincing? Which is the least convincing? Why? Explain your answer for each theory you selected.

In this module and particularly in Chapter 2 of the Women, Gender, and Crime textbook, the theories of victimization are covered thoroughly. After reading through all of the theories, I find the “Routine Activities Theory” the most convincing. The routine activities theory has three main components: the person who is inclined to commit a crime, a viable victim for the perpetrator, and finally whether or not the victim has a guardian nearby. If all categories are met, then crime would be likely to occur. I believe this theory is the strongest especially when it comes to female victimization as a lot of the crime that occurs against women happens when they are alone. For example, domestic violence often occurs between spouses where the man takes advantage of the female when alone. Another example can be the cliché scenario of a burglar noticing a young woman walking back to her car late at night and unattended by anyone else, which is a perfect storm for a crime to occur. However, had someone else been in the house to intervene between the husband and the wife or had a friend been accompanying the woman back to her car, then the perpetrators of the crimes would’ve been less likely to attack. The textbook supports this view by including interviews of women who have had these thoughts while in similar positions, like one woman mentioning “I’m not going to do anything stupid. If I’m coming home really late drunk and I’m by myself, I might be more of a target” (Mallicoat, 72). The routine activities theory is the most thorough of all the theories and can be applied to a variety of different crimes, not just female victimization. Additionally, I found the lifestyle theory to be the least convincing as it doesn’t add or explain anything new in terms of female victimization. The lifestyle theory simply put “seeks to relate the patterns of one’s everyday activities to the potential for victimization” (Mallicoat, 72). If someone lives a risky lifestyle then they are obviously at risk of becoming a victim themselves. Someone who drinks alcohol and goes for a drive is at great risk of having an accident happen which is pretty self-explanatory. On the other hand, the routine activities theory analyzes all components of a crime like a perpetrator, victim, and environment to determine whether a crime has a high likelihood of happening.

Question 3: Trace the evolution of the typical Criminal Justice response to female victims and the impact that feminism has had over that evolution. Which of these evolutionary changes do you see as the most important for women and crime? Why? Explain your choice.

The criminal justice system has certainly come a long way since the early days of the United States and society has started to reach a great level of egalitarianism. Our module started with the movie, “The Vote” which outlined the story of women fighting for the right to vote and brings many issues to attention that many people never thought about. It was the women’s suffrage movement during this time that brought about change and broke the ice in the sense that women were now slowly starting to get more rights. Before the suffrage movement and the 19th amendment in the early 20th century, women were almost powerless in the eyes of the law for hundreds of years, so making this first step is what I believe was the turning point for women’s rights. This change may not have been directly associated with crime, but it did get women into the spotlight and open up the discussion to take them more seriously as now they had the right to vote and thus a level of control over the country. Even then, during the time of the 19th Amendment, laws regarding domestic violence against women were almost nonexistent, and for most of history before that “women were considered the property of men” and abuse was legal and sometimes even encouraged (Mallicoat, 119). Thus, the single most important evolutionary change for me is not an act or an amendment, but it is the will of women to stand up and create women’s suffrage movements and organizations that push for change. For example, the women’s suffrage movement would bring attention to changes like the aforementioned 19th Amendment or the more recent Violence Against Women Act in 1994 which allowed for women who were being abused to seek shelter and help put them on a path to a better life (Mallicoat, 119). In modern times feminism is encouraging women to speak out against abusers and not be afraid to seek out legal, mental, emotional, or financial help. There is no single act or law that can be put in place that will completely alleviate the problems women face with the criminal justice system, but feminist movements and female empowerment can go a long way in giving women the tools they need to create change for themselves. Change never occurs on its own, especially when it comes to enacting new laws or policies, so it requires people to band together and force government and legislators to listen to their concerns.

Works Cited

Mallicoat, S. L. (2019). Women, gender, and crime: A text/reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.