LAW4552 Gender and the criminal justice system

This unit critically examines how gender, as a social and legal construct, shapes the operation, outcomes, and institutional design of the criminal justice system. It explores the ways in which legal doctrines, policy responses, and criminal justice practices intersect with  gendered power dynamics, affecting not only how violence is perpetrated and addressed, but also how individuals are criminalised, sentenced, and treated by the legal system. Comparative, intersectional, and trauma-informed perspectives will underpin analysis  throughout, enabling students to conceptualise and evaluate legal and policy reform aimed at addressing systemic inequality and  promoting substantive justice.

Drawing on doctrinal analysis, socio-legal scholarship, and feminist legal theory, the unit equips you to interrogate both the gendered nature of criminal offending and victimisation, and the broader ways in which gender norms influence legal reasoning,  evidentiary standards, institutional responses, and access to justice. You will engage critically with questions of how masculinity,  femininity, and non-binary gender identities are constructed, regulated, and disciplined through criminal law.

Core topics include: the structural drivers of gender-based violence, coercive control, sexual offences and the role of consent, intimate  image abuse, homicide in the context of intimate partner violence, infanticide, and the sentencing of offenders with parenting or  caregiving responsibilities.