Do female sex offenders receive preferential treatment in criminal charging and sentencing?

Connie Hassett-Walker, Thomas Lateano, Michael Di Benedetto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Research suggests that sexual abuse by females is viewed as less harmful than male-perpetrated abuse, and that females are treated more leniently by the justice system. The authors tested two hypotheses: female sex offenders would receive shorter incarceration sentences than their male counterparts because of their gender (H1), and female sex offenders would be charged less harshly than male sex offenders because of their caretaking role with victims (H2). Little support for H1, and only partial support for H2, was found. Results showed that female sex offenders who victimized adolescents for whom they were not caretakers were charged less severely.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)62-86
Number of pages25
JournalJustice System Journal
Volume35
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014

Keywords

  • Charging
  • Differential treatment
  • Female sex offenders
  • Gender
  • Sentencing

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