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eated differently and inequitably in the Criminal Justice System (Haralambos and Holborn, 2008). Heidensohn (1985) suggested that women are treated more harshly in comparison to male offenders when they deviate from the societal norms that are prevalent at the time. It appears that the Criminal Justice System is largely influenced by gender attitudes in society as a whole, which are based upon preconceived perceptions of both men and women.

In contrast, it seems that male offenders can act violently without this being viewed as a transgression of the natural male order. Although the violent acts are still condemned, many theorists suggest that such violence is too-often interpreted as the ‘male nature gone too far.’ It appears that violent crimes are sometimes perceived as a part of the masculinity that is embodied by men, and there is a certain societal acceptance of their actions due to apparent sexist ideologies (Thwaites, 2009). The campaign group, Justice for Women, have published a wide range of examples where such inequalities between the sentencing of men and women are prevalent. A prime example where a disparity between the genders clearly exists is when comparing the case of Brian Steadman with the case of Zoora Shah. Steadman killed his wife in 1995 by hitting her with a hammer 13 times. He pleaded diminished responsibility due to the fact his wife ‘constantly nagged him’ and was jailed for just three years. In stark contrast, Shah served nearly fourteen years of a life sentence after she killed her partner. She was subject to a long period of 20 years of violent sexual, emotional and physical abuse and exploitation from her partner, who then went on to abuse one of her daughters. At the initial trial, Shah did not choose to mention the years of violent abuse she had endured