ABSTRACT
Most sentencing research and policy has been shaped by non-critical, non-feminist approaches. The “edge” which feminist criminologists are attempting to “cut” is more like a longstanding, well-defended wall; one constructed of androcentric, classist and racist assumptions that needs to be razed and replaced with (for lack of a better metaphor) a window framed by feminist principles. 1 Feminism attempts to describe gendered oppression, identify and explain its causes and consequences, and prescribe strategies for the political, economic and social equality of the sexes (Rice, 1990; Tong, 1989). Loosely defined, feminist criminology is criminological inquiry conducted using feminist theory and research.
