Women are just as likely to commit violent crimes... no they're not

[MrsTerryPratchett]

New Europol campaign reveals 'most wanted' women fugitives www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50098550

The horribly named Crime Has No Gender website reported by the BBC has female fugitives on it. The Europol spokeswoman coming out with a load of old nonsense to the BBC.

'Dr Marian Duggan, an expert in gender and criminology at the University of Kent, told the BBC that Europol was right about there being a stereotype casting men as more likely than women to perpetrate serious and organised crime. But the stereotype existed because it was true, she said.'

Too right Dr Duggan. Facts are good.

''She said the agency asked EU member states to submit their most wanted female fugitives. Three states - the UK, Cyprus and Luxembourg - sent men instead.''

Did they though?

I just read that article and wondered if there would be a thread on it. Good for Dr. Duggan!

It's like saying that on average men are taller is a stereotype. Well, yes, but it's also true, and the existence of a minority of women who're very tall (whose own brothers are probably still taller than them) doesn't make it not true.

So... Crime has no gender but it tends to have a sex, is that it?

Stereotypes abound, today.

I remember when I first realized that my nephew was getting to be stronger than me. He was about 12 or 13. But hey ho, adult males competing against women, what could possibly go wrong?

I agree with Dr Duggan that while there are some awful crimes here (particularly around trafficking, and obviously murder) to try and claim these are equivalent to a list of the most serious male crimes is laughable. I don't think any of the top 18 men on Interpol's most wanted list were convicted of selling drugs with their kids present as their most serious crime, or 'having drugs in their apartment'. It's also very striking how often they are reported to have worked either with a partner or a group, and while the sex of those other people is rarely given, every time it is it is a man. What an extraordinary coincidence.

It's like saying that on average men are taller is a stereotype. Well, yes, but it's also true,

And they are putting female offenders on the front page. Even though there are massively fewer AND I'm willing to bet less severe crimes. Which means they are actively trying to get women caught more. Why?

They've put some of the women on the front page separately to the 'crime knows no gender' campaign, and there they haven't gone to the effort of obscuring the fact that the accomplices (and I'd put some money down that we really mean 'instigators') were all male

This plays directly into the MRA narrative of women being just as violent as men. Directly. And, it seems, deliberately.

Europol said it wanted to highlight that women were just as capable as men of carrying out serious crimes.

Women really aren't 'just as capable as men' at committing acts of physical violence, and they're completely incapable of the serious crime of rape. (Or maybe Interpol doesn't think that's serious?). And as to other serious crimes... perhaps in theory women are as capable, so why in practice is it rarer for them to do it? Less power and/or better ethics?

'in recent decades, the number of women engaged in criminal activity has increased, although at a slower pace than men. One of the possible explanations is that technological progress and social norms have liberated women from the home, increasing their participation in the crime market'

• this is from Europol's press release.

So what's their explanation for the even greater increase in participation by men?

I'm reading from that that women's proportion of offending has actually reduced (since men are offending more).

A lack of housework causes crime does it? I'll tell DH so he stops doing housework. I should be off drug dealing or something.

Dunno, but they seem to be suggesting marriage and babies as a corrective for offending women:

'Since having young children reduces a woman’s propensity to commit crimes, subsidies for having children might reduce female criminality.' (Key finding)

wol.iza.org/articles/women-in-crime/long

Sorry, that was a key finding from the research cited. (It's the only research paper cited, as far as I can see.)

subsidies for having children might reduce female criminality

Da fuq?

Just ban abortion. Seems fair. Except oops, they've got suspicions that legal abortions led to a drop in male offending about 15-18 years after abortion was legalised. Form some reason...

WTF is that? I've never seen a research paper with an 'Elevator Pitch' before and hope to never see one again.

Once we are all re-embracing our rightful roles as reproducers and wives, all will be well. Is this why they're encouraging mixed-sex prisons now?

There are currently 665 women on Interpol’s most wanted list. Women tend to be underestimated more when it comes to violent crime and so convicted or identified less often than men, allowing them to often be the perfect de facto heads of crime. In fraud for example we know a lot of types of violent scams are perpetuated and often faciliated by women.

Do you have a link to stats? (I tried searching for Interpols most wanted list but it doesn't seem to have one, maybe it's for some other name?)

www.interpol.int/en/How-we-work/Notices/View-Red-Notices

There are currently 665 women on Interpol’s most wanted list.

Less than 10% then.

Which makes the focus on them a little odd. Say 10% of offenders were gay or Jewish... would Europol have a front page that focuses on them? I fucking doubt it. It's like they want the very few women caught more than the shit tons of men.