History of Female Criminals

Running Head: THE HISTORY OF FEMALE CRIMINALS

The History of Female Criminals from the Biblical Period until Early 1900s

Jennifer Nicole Willis

Darton State College

Queen Jezebel, Elizabeth Bathory, Belle Gunness, Anne Bonny, and Mary Suratt; what do all of these women have in common? They were cold and ruthless criminals. Many of them we are very familiar with, even more so than male criminals. Why; because female criminals are far and few in between. According to recent LegalMatch case data from the last three months, the majority of individuals facing criminal charges are men who outnumber women by a ratio of 3.3 to 1. Women account for only 7% of the U.S. prison population, and only 1/4th of all arrests made nationwide. (Shackleford, 2009). The chart below depicts the vast gap in the number of female and male criminals. Notice that as time goes on, females have become bolder and have been committing more crimes; however, their numbers are nowhere near as outrageous as male criminals. No wonder female criminals are so famous-or rather infamous; when women commit a horrendous criminal act, it is plastered all over the news, and those individuals will go down in history.

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One of the first females that became infamous for her criminal deeds was the one and only Queen Jezebel, wife of Ahab. The story of Jezebel can be found scattered throughout the Books of Kings (Gaines, 2000). Jezebel was known for murdering the Lord’s prophet, committing acts of adultery, idolatry and blasphemy, and speaking in the place of a man (this was unheard of the 9th century) (1 and 2 Kings New International Version). Jezebel did not face any prosecution of any kind, due to the fact she was queen, and her acts of adultery were used as black mail; therefore, she had control and tremendous power. In 2 Kings 9:30, the wicked queen’s reign came to a tragic end, as she was hurled out of a window to her death. It was said that her flesh was...