Sex-based sentencing sentencing discrepancies between male and female sex offenders
From Feminist Criminology
This study highlights that female sex offenders receive lighter sentences for the same crimes than males. The researchers analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Corrections Reporting Program from the years 1994 to 2004. Sex offenses included rape, statutory rape, sexual assault, child sexual assault, and forcible sodomy. Looking at the sentences that male and female sex offenders received for specific sex offenses they found that even after the implementation of sentencing guidelines to ensure equality in sentencing, on average male sentences were between 6% and 31% longer than female sentences for the same or similar crimes. The disparity is explained in this paper by discussing the American idea that “women are weaker and, therefore, must be protected at all times regardless of their status as victims or offenders.”
