ABSTRACT
The female sex has found it difficult to obtain equality within formal systems of criminal justice across the ages for many different reasons. Within Christianity the female sex has been painted as the purveyor of original sin with Eve painted as the original transgressor. Researching into the area of women's imprisonment, Rafter called for a gender-sensitive reading of practices of imprisonment. Women have been construed as weak and vulnerable creatures in need of protection – and that protection has almost always been considered as appropriately delivered by a suitable male preferably related by either kinship or marriage. The first reformers of the prison estate were concerned with the creation of sex-specific institutions, separating women from men and designing institutions which catered for the special needs of women, as they were understood at that time. Researching women's pathways into crime has revealed the interconnections between the gendered risk factors which contribute to much law-breaking by women.
