Women in the Criminal Justice System (From Crime & Law Enforcement in Poland: On the Threshold of the 21st Century, P 162-167, 2000, Andrzej Siemaszko, ed., -- See NCJ-198182)

• NCJ Number: 198191
• Author(s): Eleonora Zielinska
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: Oficyna Naukowa
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Poland

Annotation

Focusing on women, this chapter from the book describes the variety of roles women may occupy within Poland’s criminal justice system.

Abstract

This chapter discusses the various roles women may occupy within Poland’s criminal justice system. Although women only constitute about 10 percent of offenders within Poland’s criminal justice system, according to the author, the proportion of female offenders has been on the rise since 1990. Focusing on penal policies in regard to women, the author argues that women are not treated any more leniently than are their male counterparts. Discussing women in prison, the author maintains that in 1997, women made-up 2.5 percent of the prison population, representing a 61 percent increase since 1989. Citing a gender division with regard to the crime patterns of convicted offenders, 30 percent of female offenders, in Poland, are convicted of murder, while only 8 percent of male offenders are convicted of homicides. Addressing female victims of gender violence, the author suggests that greater weight is attached to the rights of gender violence victims, signaling significant reprimands by the Polish courts against gender violence offenders. Highlighting female practitioners within Poland’s criminal justice system, the author states that the proportion of women among those employed in the criminal justice system is relatively high, with women accounting for 66 percent of judges in district courts, 58 percent in provincial courts, and 57 percent in appellate courts.