Gender and Crime: A Feminist Perspective

Crime amongst females in India is the most overlooked area of the criminal sciences. Women are perceived as somebody who preserves the traditions and laydowns the foundation for a happy and prosperous life for her family. But the present decade witnessed a drastic change in women. As women has stepped out, their role as criminals have also increased. It is true that in the past women were less likely to commit crimes as compared to me. But the same cannot be applied today’s generation. The lack of scientific attention to the problems presented by women offenders is probably due to the presumption of small number of women committing crimes. Women, however, represent about half of our population and live under conditions that may often protect them against the detection or prosecution of crime. Moreover, it is found that the role of the opposite sex in a women’s life is an important factor as to the development of criminal tendencies among women. These conditions suggest that criminality among female deserves more research interest than it has received, no matter how small its numerical importance may appear based on criminal statistics taken at their face value