Gender-Based Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System (Research Paper Sample)

Gender-based Discrimination: Women Outcomes in the Criminal Justice System
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Abstract
Women have historically had less involvement in crimes but recent trends indicate that the number of women in conflict with the law is on the rise. For women, the justice system can offer a variety of challenges due to its design geared towards men's needs. The purpose of the paper was to investigate gender-based discrimination that disadvantages women in the criminal justice system. The research conducted an empirical review of existing literature. The paper concludes with recommendations for establishing an enabling environment for women in the criminal justice system.
Keywords: criminal justice system, gender-based discriminations, enabling environment
Gender-based Discrimination: Women Outcomes in the Criminal Justice System
There is widespread agreement among criminologists that women generally commit fewer crimes as compared to men. However, there are disagreements on the outcomes of women in the criminal justice system. There are also questions as to whether discrimination extends to the justice system and what it means for female offenders. Some of the key issues that need addressing include whether the gender gap in criminal activity involvement is stable or varies with time. It is also important to understand whether female offenders engage in similar criminal activities such as men. The principal goal of this research paper is to investigate the treatment of women in the criminal justice system, and whether the punishments they get reflect gender-based discrimination. The article will achieve this goal by answering the following research questions:
* Does the gender gap in crime remain stable or variant with time?
* What are the outcomes for women and men who commit similar crimes?
* Is there a gendered paradigm of female offending and theories that explain it?
* What does gender-based discrimination mean for women when seeking justice?
Women and the Justice System
Women commonly associate with the criminal justice systems as victims of crimes, yet there are significant cases where they are the accused of perpetrators of crimes. The number of incarcerated women remains lower than that of men. Yet, recent trends indicate that the cases of women in conflict with the law are on the rise across the globe (Strachan and Haider, 2016). In a 2016 study, it was discovered that while across the globe, prisoners increase by 20%, yet women prisoners alone increased by 50% (OHCHR, 2018). It is an indication that the recent trends reveal that the proportion of criminal activities is not stable and varies with time. The increasing number of women dealing with the criminal justice system means that society needs to comprehensively assess whether the law works equally for them. Women and men have different needs, and the criminal justice system might not offer equal treatment of opportunities (NAP, 2018). It implies that the history of the criminal justice system concentrating on men's crimes might disadvantage women. As consequence, when women get into conflict with the law, the system does not necessarily cater to them in a just manner.
The criminal justice system has traditionally focused on men and is designed to cater to men, hence practices have always been geared towards men, and fail to offer better outcomes for women. Various pathways lead women to conflict with the law in various jurisdictions across the planet. For instance, women are likely to deal with the justice system for reasons such as violence and abuse, forcefully recruitment into violent activities, engaging in things illegalized, such as abortion in