Working Group Report: Gender, Crime and Justice Working Group

The Gender, Crime and Justice Working Group was established in 2010 following the Liege conference. Co-convened by Loraine Gelsthorpe and Michele Burman and now operating with much assistance from Joana Ferreira, the Working Group involves around 100 members drawn from across Europe and beyond. The Working Group was conceived of as a collegiate space for encouraging and supporting scholars working in the area of gender, crime and justice who may often be quite academically isolated in their home institutions.

When dedicated Gender, Crime and Justice Working Group panels were first introduced in the ESC conference in 2011 (in Vilnius) there were just two panels; last year in Florence there were 12 panels of individual paper presentations and another 5 pre-planned panels - all highlighting the growth and expansion of European scholars working in this area and the vibrancy of the field. Since the Working Group’s inception 14 years ago the scope of work engaged in by members has also expanded rapidly. It now includes theoretical, conceptual and empirical work on all aspects of violence against women and children (sexual violence; domestic abuse; stalking; honour-based violence; FGM); cybercrime, intersectional analyses of female criminality and pathways to offending; the gendering of environmental crime; gender and organized crime; gender and corruption; the punishment of women (imprisonment, community sanctions); criminal justice responses to women as victims and offenders; alternatives to justice for women, and; incorporates both quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Although it is a little while now since we have been able to organise a mini-Spring conference (covid and costs have limited opportunities), the Working Group produces an annual newsletter highlighting members’ publications, research grants, events and activities, and will shortly be introducing a section which showcases individual members (both early and later career academics) talking about their research. We have also introduced online writing retreats for working group members to come together for a half day to focus on writing. These sessions provide a supportive space for members to start or develop writing projects – from writing up a PhD thesis or an academic article to progressing a research monograph. The next online writing retreat is scheduled for April 10th°2024 1-4pm (contact one of us if you wish to be included). And for the future, we are also thinking about an online conference and half day workshops to pick up on some of the forthcoming conference themes.