Disparity in sentences for men and women

[ZenNudist]

2 cases that I saw today about people killing their partners made me wonder whether men and women killers get different treatment in prison sentences. Does anyone know if this happens?

I wanted to post about Alice Wood who killed her boyfriend running over him in what is said to be a jealous rage. There is allegations on her part that he was violent to her. Shes not been sentenced yet but judge has said she may never be released. I couldn't understand why Alice Wood was being told she may never be released. Yet I was sure men got away with killing their partners with relatively short prison sentences.

Like this man sentenced to 12 years for stabbing his partner and refusing to call an ambulance.

There are sentencing guidelines to ensure equality across similar crimes right? So presumably when Alice Wood is sentenced we can expect that to be for 12 years.

Apologies for Grauniad link.

I think the judge in the Woods case was pointing out that the conviction for murder meant a whole life sentence. So the judge will set a minimum term, but after that is served, release depends on the parole board being satisfied that she is not a danger to others and has shown appropriate understanding of her crime. So some evidence of remorse, contrition, addressing problem behaviours and so on. I don't think the judge was suggesting that she should or would serve her entire life in prison.

I will be astonished if she gets a whole life order. A lot of people are told they may never be released, as minimum tariffs have to be served before they get to parole board stage - and they could then say no.

Women do seem to be sentenced more harshly- but I’m no expert and can’t post to evidence.

On the other hand, countless women involved in organised and/or group offending walk away with a suspended sentence whilst their male counterparts get immediate custody.

The other difference between the two cases you mention is that Woods pleaded not guilty to the murder charge but has been convicted. The man in the linked article was charged with manslaughter but plead guilty. Sentencing is usually reduced for an immediate guilty plea.

So the issue may well be with what the CPS are willing to charge men and women with, rather than the sentencing itself.

Obviously campaigners are already protesting the man who was allowed to be charged with manslaughter (despite lying and saying his girlfriend killed herself AND admitted in a text that her killed her) whereas Alice Wood was not allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter.

So the outrage is in his sentencing, not hers...

She hasn't been sentenced yet. I would wait until the judge gives the minimum term before I would campaign to change it.

Not sure I agree that woman get harsher sentences. How often do you see suspended sentences handed out to woman because the judge notes they have welfare over a child, etc?

Women's sentences tend to be less severe. Women are sentenced less frequently than men to prison or probation (13 and 3 percentage points less frequently, respectively).

research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/209890205/Gender_gap.pdf

I have taught in prisons. It is well documented that men are treated far more harshly in terms of sentencing than women. If women are mothers, judges do their best to avoid giving a custodial sentence

I’ve noticed this. Canoe man who faked his own death got a lesser sentence than his wife, despite it being his plan.

Is it because women are very often sole care givers for children and/or elderly relatives? Are there any studies that look at that regardless of the sex of the offender? Or perhaps there aren't enough male offenders who are solo care givers to make a decent comparison.

https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/18/anthony-williams-killed-wife-act-of-great-violence-jailed-for-five-years

this one always sat badly with me. Five years for strangling his wife as he tried to leave the house, apparently he was worried about money during lockdown, despite having many thousands of pounds in the bank.

In general there are large differences in the types of crime, the aggravating and mitigating factors, the motivations for crimes, the situations convicted criminals have come from, etc. that make comparisons between sentencing really difficult. Which isn’t to say there are no issues. But I don’t think there’s any way to do that by looking at just a few sentences.

The root of any disparity may not be in the way a judge perceives men or women doing the same thing, but be in sentencing guidelines and whether things like mitigating and aggravating factors for sentencing entrench sexist attitudes. Or even the way criminal intent for a crime is defined by the courts and in law (as we saw with murder until relatively recently whereby men who killed in a fit of rage could get away with murder, whereas women who were subject to domestic violence and planned a killing to escape were not able to rely on self-defence).

It's a standard thing that judges say to defendants who have been convicted of an offence that attracts a life sentence to shit them up. And its technically true of course - the sentence will be to life with a recommendation to serve a minimum of x years, but if she fucks up in prison she may well never be released.

Aren't women also more likely to be self-harming, have committed crime in coercive situations, were shoplifting to fund drug addiction or living basics etc? I.e. not often random acts of aggression

this organisation has interesting facts and stats about women in prison.

There was one recent case of a woman committing a sexual crime and getting a very harsh sentence - 10.5 years. Contrast that with men who hardly even reach court when accused of rape and sexual assault.

https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/dec/20/woman-jailed-posing-as-man-cambridge-crown-court

30 months for this poor cuckolded soul:

https://www.herald.wales/national-news/crime/a-fateful-day-death-on-a-cliff-top/

This article links to interesting stats (from 1989, but I doubt much has changed): in the US a man convicted of killing his partner gets on average 2-6 years, while a woman convicted of the same gets on average 15 years. Considering all those acquittals/light sentences for men invoking the rough sex defence over here, I'd be surprised if sentences for murder are any less unequal www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2019/jan/12/intimate-partner-violence-gender-gap-cyntoia-brown

@SunnySkeg the average time served for homicide (ie murder and manslaughter combined) in England and Wales is 16.5 years. Its hard to find a breakdown by sex, but for all offences women generally serve less than men convicted of the same offence and I would expect the same for homicides. This is because female crimes usually have more mitigating factors and fewer aggravating ones and this is reflected in sentencing. They are also more likely to behave themselves inside and get earlier release as a result.

Oh, I think infanticide (a separate offence which can only be committed by a biological mother) is also included in homicide but I'm not sure.

Men are way more likely to receive a custodial sentence and/or longer sentence compared to woman for the same offence.

@puncheur but is that comparing like to like? Women commit far fewer homicides than men: men are killed in a greater number, but by other men. The average for murder may be 16.5 years, but 93% of killers are men so the figures for women are comparatively tiny. Looking at the sentences men who have killed their partners have received compared to women who kill their partners, there is a clear disparity when it comes to sentencing. Men seem to be able to get charges reduced to manslaughter for ridiculous reasons, so much so that the Victims' Commissioner and Domestic Abuse Commissioner have slated the justice system for having a culture of misogyny. Men also get lesser sentences as the use of a weapon is an aggravating factor, and men often kill partners with bare hands, whereas a woman might use a knife.

@TheCadoganArms i believe that’s the case in minor crimes where she is a sole parent. Children whose mother goes to prison end up in care. When the father does, the children stay home.