Female delinquency in Spain and its treatment

Abstract

Recorded female crime is less than 10% in Spain, as is the case in other European countries, however, women continue to be studied more as victims than as perpetrators. The purpose of this article is to show a general view of the phenomenon of female delinquency in Spain in the last decade, showing its characteristics, prevalence, profiles, and the treatment in prison of a population that represents a minority within penitentiary institutions. To do this, a mixed methodology is used, resorting to official statistics and data regarding the phenomenon presented, but also to studies that analyse this subject. In the same way, female prison population is compared with the data concerning the male population, pointing out similarities and differences both quantitatively and qualitatively. As main conclusions, it can be highlighted how the treatment of female offenders continues to present marked sexist biases and lacks a gender perspective in its treatment.

Keywords

• female delinquency
• spain
• prison population
• gender perspective
• treatment