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Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice

No. 264: The female criminal : an overview of women's drug use and offending behaviour

Katie Willis and Catherine Rushforth
ISBN 0 642 53825 5 ; ISSN 0817-8542
October 2003

Abstract

Women's drug use is believed to be a defining factor in their participation in crime and it is argued that the severity of women's drug use is more closely related to their criminality than it is for men, particularly for prostitution and property crime. Women's drug use and offending are different from men's. For instance, female offenders are more likely than males to be incarcerated for non-violent crimes, such as drug offences (14 percent of female prisoners, compared to 9 percent of males), whereas male offenders are more likely to be incarcerated for violent crimes such as assault (23 percent of male prisoners, compared to 14 percent of females). Women drug users, particularly those who have been incarcerated, experience higher levels of abuse, economic hardship and other adversity in their lives than men. This paper outlines Australian and international research on the links between women's drug use and their criminal behaviour. It first describes the common risk factors for these activities, then reviews key data and research on women's drug use patterns and women's offending patterns. Finally, it considers what we know about the interrelationships between these two issues. The paper identifies that there is currently no national survey of women inmates' experience of drug use and offending. It suggests a need for this type of information to be collected for policy purposes, for example, in the management of women through the criminal justice system and in drug treatment settings.

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