ABSTRACT
In 1961, for every adult woman who was cautioned for or found guilty of an indictable offence, five men were; and for non-indictable offences the ratio was one to seven. The most obvious of strength and skill is the difference between the sexes in strength and certain sorts of skills. It hardly matters whether this is a physiological or a sociological fact. Differences between the ways of life of the sexes must give men greater opportunities for some types of offences, although these differences are probably diminishing. Quite apart from differences in strength, skills, and opportunities, women seem to take a more censorious view of transgressions of codes of conduct. A less well-known type of antisocial sexual conduct which is confined to women is the making of false accusations of rape or indecent assault. Certainly in practice women offenders have a higher chance of being dealt with as mentally abnormal.
