WOMEN AND THE NIGERIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: A HUMAN RIGHT PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

There are criminal tendencies in both males and females. However, in Nigeria and Africa generally, women involvement in crime whether as victims or offenders is modern. Traditionally, female criminality was almost unimaginable because women were known for their biological roles as carriers and nurturers of life only. The reverse is the case now, as it appears that gender roles are shifting and other factors suspected to have encouraged women in crime have developed in recent times. Crime tends to stripe women of their peculiar human dignity and exposes them to the harsh realities of the law. The administration of criminal justice in Nigeria is gender insensitive especially in the face of the recent surge in crime. This research takes women through the various stages of the criminal justice in Nigeria. It concludes that the way female deviants are being treated in the course of justice is yet to achieve the laid down standards as provided by international legal instruments among other things. In this light, certain recommendations were made; one being that the bureaucrats of the Nigerian justice system should be gender sensitive and government should employ proactive steps to curb the recent rise in women criminality by empowering women