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FEMALE OFFENDERS AND PRISONERS THROUGH THE EYES OF FEMINIST CRIMINOLOGY
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FEMALE OFFENDERS AND PRISONERS
THROUGH THE EYES OF FEMINIST CRIMINOLOGY
AUTHORED BY - NAIR ANUBHA MOHANKUMAR
Abstract
As criminology has always been
dominated by men, feminists contend that all traditional conceptions of
criminality are judged in the context of men's experience. According to
feminist theory, sex-based subordination of women in patriarchal societies results
in criminality. They contend that patriarchy must cease, or at the very least,
significant adjustments to gendered institutions and social relations in
society must be made. The objective would be to lessen gender-based disparities
and inequities in society, particularly in the judicial system. This defence
seems to be most applicable to India, where a large number of women are
arrested and convicted of murder and dowry-related offences. There are fewer
female prisoners in Indian prisons than there are male ones. It can be the
reason that the rights of female convicts are disregarded. This research
paper's major goals are to draw attention to issues facing female offenders and
prisoners through the eyes of feminist criminology, demonstrate how their human
rights are being violated, and make recommendations for amendments to the
Indian Prisons Act of 1894.
Keywords: Female offenders, Prisoners, Feminist Criminology, Constitutional
Rights, Human Rights
Introduction
Nelson Mandela famously stated “It
has been said that no one completely understands a country until they have
spent time in its prisons.” The lowest residents of a country, not its highest,
should be used to measure its behaviour. The Goddess, who has the highest place
in Indian culture, is how women are portrayed. In addition to nurturing a
family, women are the ones who give birth to new life.[1] She is treated like an object in a world
where men desire to rule, exploiting her despite the fact that she is locked up
and under the protection of the government. Even if her case has not yet been
proven, a woman who is imprisoned, for whatever cause, can witness the
destruction of her entire existence before her eyes. She does not only not have
to contend with this society's orthodoxy, but also with other injustices
occurring inside the penitentiary.[2]
Theories
STRAIN THEORY
It claims that stress or pressure
leads to criminal behaviour. Aspirations to accomplish particular goals are
encouraged, but they are also met with difficulties, which is the basis of this
tension. People who are frustrated may turn to crime as a way to let off steam
or as a shortcut to their objectives. This hypothesis was developed by Robert
Merton and Albert Cohen, who mostly utilised it to explain male delinquency.[3] Cohen did
add, though, that women tend to focus on a small number of relationships with
the sex opposite. They are marginalised because they are passive, unambitious,
uncreative, indolent, and afraid. Only the girls in his narrative who are
unable to find satisfying relationships through socially acceptable dating and
marriage will turn to promiscuity for its fast rewards. He claims that because
women do not experience the same demands to achieve as men do, they do not
commit the whole spectrum of crimes. Later, under the name differential
opportunities thesis, Cloward and Ohlin presented an alternative interpretation
of strain theory.
They argued that because women are
not involved in the pursuit of material achievement, they are not eligible for
either legal or illegal awards. Women are not given a destructive outlet for
their frustrations or pressured to meet society's key success goals. The family
is the extent of the female's world. In the 1960s, Ruth Morris switched the
emphasis of stain theory to the juvenile female. She argued that preventing
girls from using legal means of obtaining culturally defined success goals
causes delinquency, making challenges to maintaining healthy interpersonal
relationships more likely to result in girls being delinquent. She asserted
that delinquent girls tended to originate from dysfunctional families or homes
with plenty of conflict and unhappy families.
DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY
Also known as
learning crime theory, was given by Sutherland and Cressey who said that crime
behaviour is learned. Women do not mix in criminal circles because their gender
role defines them as wives and mothers and restricts their sphere of influence
and experience to the home. Girls are taught to be nice and do not have freedom
of males hence they do not get a chance to learn criminal behaviour. Ruth
Morris claimed that there is a relative absence of deviant subculture for female delinquents
and also absence of cultural support for them. Giordano asserted that those
girls will offend more who thought that their female friends approved of a
crime.[4]
MASCULINITY THEORY
It consists of two ideas: that crime
is symbolically masculine and that a lot of crime is motivated by masculinity.
Male qualities like aggression, toughness, and daring are all required of the
criminal. Talcott Parson outlined it in 1947. Based on the structure and
function of the American nuclear family, he provided an explanation for why
guys commit more crimes than girls. He argued that males are expected to work
outside the home to support the family financially while women are primarily
responsible for raising children and fostering their socialisation in the home.[5] Boys and
girls are affected differently by this sex-based division of labour, which
accounts for the greater male rebelliousness. He steals as a potential
breadwinner, whereas the girl, who will likely become his wife and mother, is
more inclined to participate in sexual promiscuity and steals goods that will
make her more appealing to the other sex. The petty nature of female
criminality was explained by Klein and Kress in terms of women's social
inferiority because the black market also contains a sexist class system.
CONTROL THEORY
Hirschi thinks that because people
are naturally immoral, they will participate in both pro- and antisocial
behaviour unless someone stops them. According to him, society has created a
number of techniques for policing its citizens and thwarting their propensity
for deviation. A person will decide not to offend if they are linked to
conventional people, committed to and participating in conventional
institutions and behaviours, and believe in the rules of conventional society.
He discovered that strong academic standing and close parental communication
between boy and parent predicted less delinquent involvement.[6]
Criminologists who attempted to apply the same idea to girls noticed that,
despite the fact that girls' stronger social bonds explain why they exhibit
more conformity, this is not a sufficient explanation.
DOUBLE STANDARD THEORY
According to Pollak, dishonesty and
double standards are characteristics of crimes committed by women.[7] The use of
physical appeal helps her to lure the victim, just as physical weakness compels
a woman to turn to deception. According to him, female criminal behaviour is
also fueled by frustration, envy, and false charges against men.
LABELLING THEORY
Howard Becker advanced the notion
that a criminal is defined by an outward social stigma or label. It claims that
the powerful men in society assign labels to the powerless men, who internalise
the message and alter their behaviour and self-perception in accordance.
However, Anthony Harris said that it was used against women, tricking them into
believing that crime is something that only men should engage in in order to
force them to stay at home and raise their children. According to Fox, women
respect the law because they are encouraged to be model citizens by social
value constructs such as "nice girl" and "lady."[8]
FEMINIST THEORY
As criminology has historically been
dominated by men, feminists contend that all traditional ideas are judged in
the context of men's experience. Feminists promote the premise that in a
patriarchal society, women are subordinated based on their sex, and that this
subordination causes crime. Due to patriarchy, there are different standards
for men and women, and frequently, female criminals have also experienced
abuse. Therefore, patriarchy is to blame for crimes committed by and against
women.[9] The
patriarchy, according to feminists, must cease, or at the very least,
significant changes in gendered institutions and social relations must be
undertaken. Reducing gender-based gaps and inequalities in society at large,
and in the legal and criminal justice systems in particular, would be the aim.
Additionally, they advocate for the
use of treatment and preventative programmes rather than harsh punishment for
female offenders. These women experience special vulnerability to sexual
assault, intimate partner violence, unintended pregnancy, and adolescent
parenthood, among other exceptional or unique life variations. They contend
that, in both residential and non-residential community programmes, women are
less violent, more responsive, and more open to treatment and prevention than
men. Feminists thus emphasise the patriarchal system as the fundamental source
of the social difference between dominant and inferior groups. Males with
privilege set and uphold the rules. Women in this system are more oppressed,
confined, and disadvantaged.[10]
Causes of Crime by Women
1. Economic Causes- According to scholars,
economic hardship is one of the primary reasons why women get involved in
criminal behaviour. The pressure to conduct consumer-based crimes like
shoplifting, cheque fraud, service theft, and welfare fraud rises because a
significant portion of the female population experiences more economic uncertainty
and adversity.The majority of offenders come from the lowest socioeconomic
classes, according to studies conducted in India, and many crimes are committed
for financial gain or as a result of a precarious economic situation. The need
for dowry, however, is another reason why Indian women commit crimes.
2. Physiological Causes- According to several researchers in India, the premenstrual
period is the most stressful time for women, and nearly 50% of those who
experience it commit crimes when the symptoms first appear. A few foreign
academics have also asserted a statistical relationship between menstruation
and criminality.
3. Illiteracy-A person can make more money and
live a more law-abiding life with knowledge, but in India, women typically lack
access to education or receive just a limited amount of it. Illiteracy and
criminality clearly have a relationship, according to studies.
4. Social Cause- Researchers
in the west have discovered that factors in society, such as the rising divorce
rate, illegitimacy, female-headed households, low-paying occupations, the
unemployment rate for women, and the cost of child care, drive women to commit
minor offences. According to studies, family dysfunction, particularly marital
strife brought on by intoxication and adultery, joint families, and fractured
houses, are causes of crime in India. Indian society is conservative and
patriarchal, which causes brides to be victimised by their husbands and
in-laws, including the mother-in-law, who then torture and murder them for
dowry. Young women may kill their spouses or other male family members as a result
of sexual abuse or suspicions of adultery. Young ladies are occasionally
falsely accused of murder by their relatives even when they haven't committed
any crime.[11]
5. Superstition-
Women may commit crimes motivated by superstition, such as sacrifice, in
rural areas of India.
TYPES OF CRIMES COMMITTED BY WOMEN IN INDIA
a)
Prostitution or Sex Delinquency- It is thought that a sizable
portion of women offenders are sex offenders. According to earlier reports from
the United States of America, a sizable portion of women's criminality was
related to sex. Although other data sources show that prostitution is still the
most common sort of female crime, the arrest rate for prostitution-related
offences is currently much lower. Sex-related crimes account for a sizable
portion of all crimes perpetrated by women in India as well. Actually, 86.9% of
women were detained in India in 1996 as a result of the immoral traffic
prevention act.[12]
b)
Dowry and Murder- Murder committed for dowry is a
significant reason why women get arrested in India. Dowry is the sum of money and presents that
the bride's family gives to the groom and his family both before and after the
wedding. However, it has become troublesome as grooms and their families have
begun to expect excessive amounts of cash and gifts, such as vehicles. In order
to get as much information from the bride's parents as possible, they are
bullied, ridiculed, and tortured. If the demands are not met, she is killed so
that the groom can get a second chance at marriage and dowry.
c)
Child Marriage- The Child Marriage Restraint Act
in India, which saw 32% of women jailed in 1996, is the second most common
reason for arresting women.[13] This served as a
significant justification for the arrest of women in 2000 as well. In the
northern region of India, child marriage is a long-standing tradition that is
destructive to girls' education and development. The law was passed to prevent
underage marriages in order to safeguard young women. Traditionalists believe
that girls should get married before they reach puberty, and while the family
patriarch typically makes these decisions, the law also holds mothers
accountable.
d)
Cruelty- Forcing cruelty on the
daughter-in-law in exchange for dowry or because the daughter-in-law is viewed
as a lower class person is another main reason why women are arrested. In
arranged weddings, she is typically an individual without any allies or
protections, perhaps merely engaged for dowry and devoid of any love or
affection. Although it appears that a woman is tormenting a different lady in
this instance as well, the mother-in-law is once more the patriarchal power.
Constitutional status of Female Prisoners
and Offenders
The women convicts are
not given any specific protections under the Indian Constitution. The Indian
Constitution, however, accords women the position of equality. The Indian
Constitution's founding fathers seriously considered how to safeguard and
advance the rights of women and children. The Preamble, which incorporates
"the ideals and aspirations of the people of India," sufficiently
reflects this. "The equality of status and opportunity" is one of the
supreme goals. The Indian Constitution's Article 14 guarantees women in India
equal legal protection, while Article 15 forbids sex-based discrimination.[14] For
example, Article 21 of the Indian Constitution provides that women convicts
have the right to live in protected homes, have access to free legal
representation, and have quick trials. The rights of female inmates include a
swift trial. According to a ruling by the Supreme Court, undertrial detainees
have an undisputed right to a quick trial. Rights include the prohibition on
harsh and unusual punishment, the right to a fair trial, the prohibition on incarceration, abuse and death in police cells, and the right to a dignified
existence. Additionally, the Indian Constitution protects against torture,
handcuffing, and solitary incarceration. The Protection of Human Rights Act,
1993 was enacted by the Indian government, and the National Human Rights
Commission was established to advance and defend human rights. The Directive
Principles of State Policy are outlined in Part 4 of the Indian Constitution
and give the State clear instructions on how to grant its citizens economic and
social rights. In order to guarantee equal rights for women, India has ratified
a number of international conventions and human rights instruments.
Women Prisoner’s Right under the
Prisoner’s Act,1894
The earliest law
governing jail regulation in India is the Prisoners Act of 1894. The following
provisions of the Prisoners Act of 1894 explain the rights of women prisoners
in India. This Act focuses primarily on the reformation of inmates in relation
to prisoners' rights.
a) The right for female
inmates to dwell apart from male convicts is stated in item (a). According to
Section 27(1) of the Prisoners Act of 1894, female prisoners must be housed in
separate buildings or areas of the same building from male prisoners in order
to prevent them from seeing, speaking with, or engaging in sexual activity with
them.[15]
b) According to Section 31
of the Prison Act of 1894, a civil prisoner or an unconvicted criminal prisoner
is allowed to support himself and to purchase or obtain from private sources
food, clothing, bedding, or other necessities at the appropriate times, but
only after passing an inspection and adhering to any rules that the Inspector
General may deem appropriate.
c) Section 33(1) of the
Prison Act, 1894 states that any civil or unconvicted criminal prisoner who is
unable to provide for their own clothing and bedding needs to have the
Superintendent provide them with whatever clothing and bedding may be required.
d) Housing and hygienic
conditions for prisoners,
e) Making arrangements for
the extra convicts who can't be held safely in any prison's shelter and safe
custody
f) Requirement for certified
medical officers to examine detainees
Conclusion
For analysing female
criminality, the feminist theory of female crime seems to be the most
appropriate. In India, women are even more at risk since patriarchy is more
ingrained than it is in western nations. Both external and interpersonal
violence were perpetrated against women. When women fail to stop domestic abuse
and sexual exploitation by male relatives or are made into prostitutes, they
kill their husbands and male relatives. But in India, many women are detained
and found guilty of murder and dowry-related crimes. The three jails show that
the majority of convicted women are uneducated and underprivileged.
According to feminists,
gendered structures and social relations in society need to be fundamentally
changed in order to end patriarchy or at the very least, they should be. The
objective would be to lessen gender-based disparities and inequities in society
at large and in the legal and criminal justice systems in particular. The need
for dowry and the crimes associated with it will cease to exist if men and
women are treated equally. Women must earn the same amount as men do, be
educated, and be aware of their rights for there to be equality in society
between men and women. Finally, women's economic and educational empowerment,
together with a stable legal environment that keeps men and women apart, are
the key components of the solution.
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[7] Akers and Seller, Criminological
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[8] ibid
[9] Maniyar, Mridula, Women Criminals and Their Life Style, Kaveri, New Delhi, 2023.
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[11] V.R. Krishnan Iyer, “Are not women human even in
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[12] Sethna, M. J., Society
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[13] Steffensmeier, Darrell
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and Criminal Justice, Roxbury, Los Angeles, 2001.
[14] Bastick, M.&Townhead, L(2008), Women in Prison: A
Commentary on the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Article Information
FEMALE OFFENDERS AND PRISONERS THROUGH THE EYES OF FEMINIST CRIMINOLOGY
Authors: NAIR ANUBHA MOHANKUMAR
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2024/03/01
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
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