Women in Prison

Women in Prison - The Real Story

Crimes & Sentences

Although women are generally treated a little more leniently than men by the courts, some women seem to be given particularly harsh sentences.

The top seven offences for which women were sentenced to prison in 2000 were, in order of frequency:

  1. Theft from shops
  2. Wounding
  3. Fraud
  4. Production, supply or possession with intent to supply a class A controlled drug (such as heroin, cocaine, crack or ecstasy)
  5. Motoring offences
  6. Burglary
  7. Handling stolen goods

Most women in prison are serving short sentences for non-violent offences.

Among the population of sentenced female offenders, the main offence groups in 2000 were drug offences (over a third of women prisoners), theft and handling (one in five) and violence against the person (16%).

For further information on the issues covered in this section, please visit The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies website.