1. Marisela Velazquez, PhD Candidate James Cook University
Sentencers’ attitudes toward women in the Criminal Justice System – Explanations for sentencing treatment disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women
Marisela Velazquez, PhD Candidate
James Cook University

2. Women defendants Contact with the policing system
Offender rate
Despite decreases, Indigenous women continue to experience higher offending rates than their non-Indigenous counterparts
Women’s offender rate by Indigenous status and selected states/territory
(per 100,000 population),
Indigenous
Queensland
7,192
7,370
6,707
6,852
7,046
South Australia
8,203
8,453
8,791
8,232
8,600
8,885
Northern Territory
4,294
3,404
3,195
2,674
3,042
3,737
New South Wales
5,591
4,378
4,243
4,090
3,223
3,485
Non-Indigenous
712
724
660
679
680
504
522
551
539
503
506
385
370
366
330
313
380
603
388
417
405
292
381

3. Women defendants Contact with the policing system
Offender rate
Current disparities in women’s offending patterns resonates with trends from nearly 20 years ago
Dated surveys and other data on police arrests show that Indigenous women are more likely to be arrested than non- Indigenous women
Disproportionate rates have long been claimed to reflect the conduct of policing

4. Women defendants Contact with the policing system
Offender rate in Queensland
Indigenous women are 10 times more likely to offend that non-Indigenous women: 7,046 vs. 680

5. Women defendants Contact with the policing system
Criminogenic behaviour
Crime generally remains non-serious and non-violent (with some increases in violent crimes)
Indigenous women show higher proportions of violent offences than non-Indigenous women

6. Women in the CJS Contact with the court system
Finalised Proven guilty Sentenced
Selected Higher courts data on women defendants by Indigenous status, Qld. ( )
Selected Magistrates’ court data on women defendants by Indigenous status, Qld. ( )
 Higher Courts
Indigenous
Non-Indigenous
Number of women finalised (excluding traffic offences)
174
136
142
549
483
399
Indigenous/non-Indigenous women as % of women finalised 21 18 22 66 63
Indigenous/non-Indigenous women as % of Indigenous/non-Indigenous offenders finalised 19 20 14 13
% of Indigenous/non-Indigenous offenders finalised proven guilty 75 79 77 76 78
Magistrates' Courts
Indigenous
Non-Indigenous        
Number of women finalised (excluding traffic offences)
5,640
5,261
5,061
11,915
11,368
11,579
Indigenous/non-Indigenous women as % of women finalised 27 28 57 60 63
Indigenous/non-Indigenous women as % of Indigenous/non-Indigenous offenders finalised 45 44 24 25
% of Indigenous/non-Indigenous offenders finalised proven guilty 92 91 89 88 87

7. Women defendants Contact with the prison system
Indigenous women are at present 24 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous women
The gap in prison rates between both groups of women has widened
Women’s prisoner rates (per 100,000 population), 2000 – 2013
Indigenous
Non-Indigenous
2013
415 17
2012
405
2011
358 16
2010
374 18
2009
360
2008
365
2007
2006
366
2005
338
2004
301 21
2003
296 20
2002
285 19
2001
294
2000
251

8. Women defendants Contact with the prison system
Indigenous women are more likely to serve time in prison for violent offences than non-Indigenous women
Percentage of Indigenous women in prison by most serious offence type, 2007 – 2013
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Homicide 8 9 7
Acts intended to cause injury (AICI) 30 33 31 35 34
Sexual assault and related offences 1
0.5
0.7
0.6
0.8
Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons 2 3 4
Abduction and related offences
Robbery, extortion and related offences
Unlawful entry with intent 14 13 10 11 12 15
Theft and related offences
Deception and related offences
Illicit drug offences 6
Weapons and explosives offences
0.4
Property damage and environmental pollution
Public order offences
0.9
Road traffic and motor vehicle regulatory offences 5
Offences against justice procedures, government security and operations
Miscellaneous offences

9. Women defendants Contact with the prison system
Non-Indigenous women have a lower likelihood of serving time for violent offences; instead, increases in illicit drug offences
Percentage of non-Indigenous women in prison by most serious offence type, 2007 – 2013
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Homicide 12 11
13.1
Acts intended to cause injury (AICI) 10 9
Sexual assault and related offences 2 3
3.1
Dangerous or negligent acts endangering persons 1
Abduction and related offences
0.5
0.9
0.8
Robbery, extortion and related offences 7 6 5
Unlawful entry with intent 8
Theft and related offences
Deception and related offences 14 15 13
Illicit drug offences 19 22 23 24 25
Weapons and explosives offences
0.4
0.7
0.6
0.3
Property damage and environmental pollution
Public order offences
Road traffic and motor vehicle regulatory offences
Offences against justice procedures, government security and operations
Miscellaneous offences

10. Women defendants All criminal justice jurisdictions
Over-representation of Indigenous women across the CJS
Patterns of disparities across all CJ jurisdictions is not new
Resonates with historical facts of minority women vs white women’s treatment
International and across Australia

11. Indigenous women - Higher courts Emerging research
Higher courts – NSW, SA, WA
Contradicts historical facts of punitive treatment for minority women
Indigenous women are being given lenient treatment for comparable offences
Lower likelihood of imprisonment sentences for Indigenous women than non-Indigenous women

12. Indigenous women – Higher courts Emerging research
Judiciary’s assessment of offenders and crime
Focal concerns perspectives
Blameworthiness
Risk/community protection
Constraints

13. Research project Objectives
Aim is to gauge sentencers’ explanations for sentencing discrepancies of Indigenous women
Two key explanations from criminology will be critically analysed for their applicability to the context of Indigenous women’s sentencing compared with non-Indigenous women’s sentencing in the higher courts in North Queensland
 The key questions:
Why are the higher courts more lenient toward Indigenous women defendants?
If sentencers say that they impose prison sentences as ‘last resort’ for women defendants, why do Indigenous women continue to be imprisoned at such high rates?
How have changes in legislation contributed to policy changes on sentencing?

14. Research project Framework
Focal concerns perspective
Blameworthiness
Risk/community protection
Constraints
Feminist criminology
Women are generally treated more leniently than men due to their criminogenic behaviour
Femininity role
Advance understandings of how race and ethnic status impacts the treatment of minority women in the CJS

15. Research project Explanation
Positive discrimination – lenient treatment
Sentencing decisions may favour Indigenous offenders
Product of judicial awareness of the historical inequalities (e.g. colonisation).
Sentencers’ response to political and community expectations to reduce Indigenous over-representation

16. Research project Explanation
Differential involvement – punitive treatment
Differences in sentencing outcomes may be a function of differences in offending patterns and criminal histories
Sentence is not based on Indigenous status (e.g. not race-based discrimination)

17. Research project Qualitative methodology
Interviews
Participants – judiciary who presides over cases involving women offenders in the higher courts
Semi-structured, open-ended interviews
Observations
Analyse how gender is constructed in courtrooms
Field notebooks will be analysed through thematic coding
Analysis of court transcripts
Analysis will be from the previous 25 years

18. Research Analysis of data collection
Data collection from interviews, observations, and court transcripts will be analysed through thematic coding
Will pair thematic coding with a grounded theory-style coding of themes raised from data
Observe for links between punitive and lenient treatment and women’s Indigeneity

19. Research Qualitative methodology
Limitations
Sentencers are not the sole factor for women’s treatment in CJS
Target group – Sentencers

20. References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2012b. Criminal courts, Australia, Cat no Canberra: ABS.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Prisoners in Australia. cat. no Canberra: ABS.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Prisoners in Australia. cat. no Canberra: ABS.
Bartels, L. (2010). Indigenous women’s offending patterns: A literature review. Research and Public Policy Series no Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.

21. Thank you
Feedback
Questions