A COMPARISON ON THE IMPACT OF GENDER CRIMINALITY IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Gender is clearly seen as economic, social and cultural features, qualities
and chances related with being either a male or female. Basically in most societies, men and women are totally different from each other and this is seen in their activities and business, and also their access to and control over
resources, and partaking in decision-making. Gender is a power tool, a social institution and cultural construct.
The idea of gender is not constrained to the male or female species, but further breaks the bound to fully assess the
correlations between them. This relationships has continuously been argued on by researchers, the layman, political
parties, etc in the process of enforcing change in the political environment, economy, social and cultural environments
at the local, national and supra national levels to mention but a few.
Crime is a specifically an interesting event and a huge problem in any society because it is in all ramification the
opposite of good deed. This is basically true if we define crime broadly in terms of behavior in which individuals
acquire resources from others by force, fraud, or stealth. Criminal acts do just the opposite of good. People who
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commit these acts intentionally harm others in other to satisfy their selfish interests.
Conventionally, crime is defined as acts forbidden by law that can be punishable by imprisonment. Murder, robbery,
burglary, rape, drunken driving, child neglect, and failure to pay your taxes etcall are examples of crime. The
behavioral definition of crime centers on, criminality, a specified personality profile that encourages all manner of
crimes. Criminal behaviors comprises the use of force, fraud, or stealth to obtain material or symbolic resources.
Furthermore, criminality is a style of strategic behavior characterized by self-centeredness, selfishness, indifference to
the suffering and needs of others, the feeling of “I cannot achieve it on my own” and low self-control.
Gender criminalities in Nigeria have caused The study of gender simply means having total knowledge of both the
roles women and men play together with their responsibilities. A comparism on the impact of gender criminality in
Nigeria has to do with the comparative analysis between male and female, these will also throw more light on gender
inequalities in the society and how it encourages criminality in Nigerian prisons, Suleja prisons specifically. The term
Gender inequality does not actually mean that all women are worse than all men, neither is the reverse. But to some
degree, gender (being male or female) is a vital social separation described by the word inequality. Gender to a large
extent influences people’s perspectives and their social expectations. Gender equality on the other hand has to do
with women and men enjoying the same status and having equal human rights and also the opportunities for
acknowledging their full right and humans and the ability to partake, contribute to national, political, economic, social,
and cultural development, and also to benefit from the end results. Gender equality reduces crime and fosters unity,
growth and development in the society.
more harm than good to the citizens, inmates specifically. Among women, poverty is common. Previous research
works revealed that women account for over 70% of the world’s absolute poor. Women most times fall victims of
frowning circumstances because they want retain the position enforced on them as the house keeper, baby making
machines etc and keep their homes, provide for their children, and as such bear a disproportionate burden, trying to
manage household consumption and production under conditions of recession.
Amongst various areas in which the parliamentarians play important roles in encouraging, supporting and protecting
women’s rights, the discrimination against women and girls in the criminal justice system makes up a huge problem
which is less seen addressed than others. These concerns range from discriminatory, gender inclined offences and
reasons for detention to the impact of the lack of financial resources in order to prevent detention and a prison system
that has been designed by men for male prisoners. The excessive increase in discrimination positions girls in
situations where they are open to attacks.Nowadays, the circumstances in which women commit criminal offences
are different from men. For this reason, a considerable number of women offenders are in prison as a direct or
indirect outcome of the discrimination and deprivation, which is most times often experienced from their spouses, their
family members and the community. Crimes committed by women are related to poverty and most times as a result of
trying to survive in other to support their family and children. When it comes to the profile and background of women in
prison, and the reasons for their imprisonment, it differs completely from those of men. Just like the men, women
prisoners basically come from economically and socially under privileged parts of society, together with drug
peddlers/users, lower-level property offenders, and sex workers are over represented. To compare the male prison populations, women mainly commit minor crimes, theft and fraud and these are chiefly caused by emotional, physical,
and/or sexual abuse which contributes to women’s criminal behaviour. Women (and girls) make up the minority of
prisoners all over the world, amounting to an estimated 2 to 9% of national prison populations. Howbeit, the number
of imprisoned women has drastically increased in some countries, and to a large extent higher than for men. For this
reason, the specific needs and characteristics of women and girls which are the main reason of the criminal justice
system have remained unacknowledged and unaddressed. Prison systems are on every occasion crafted for the
majority male prison population which is not meant to be and is as a result of discrimination; from the framework of
prisons, to security procedures, to facilities for healthcare, family contact, work and training. Consequently, a few
numbers of prisons meet the specific needs of women prisoners, and most times do not get them ready for release
with genderappropriate rehabilitation. The United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Noncustodial Measures for Women Offenders were embraced in December 2010 to in other to put things in place
especially the lack of standards, however the international community till date are deficient of awareness and
commitment to implementation. Gender roles has resulted to a scar on women in prison, and while their husbands,
partners often support their husbands in prison and upon release as a matter of course, reciprocally women tend to be
silenced by their spouse and often even the whole family if they are by any chance detained. At the same time, women are most times the sole caretaker of young children, which has resulted in a particular impact of even short periods of detention on children and the wider family.
A COMPARISON ON THE IMPACT OF GENDER CRIMINALITY IN NIGERIA