The United Nations has called violence against women "the most pervasive, yet least recognized human rights abuse in the world" and there is a long-established history of the systematic victimization of women by the state during times of peace and conflict. This book contributes to the established literature on women, gender and crime and the growing research on state crime, and extends the discussion of violence against women to include the role and extent of crime and violence perpetrated by the state.
State Crime, Women and Gender examines state-perpetrated violence against women in all its various forms. Drawing on case studies from around the world, patterns of state-perpetrated violence are examined as it relates to women’s victimization, their role as perpetrators, resistors of state violence, as well as their engagement as professionals in the international criminal justice system. From the direct involvement of Condoleezza Rice in the United States-led war on terror, to the women of Egypt’s Arab Spring Uprising, to Afghani poetry as a means to resist state-sanctioned patriarchal control, case examples are used to highlight the pervasive and enduring problem of state-perpetrated violence against women.
The exploration of topics that have not previously been addressed in the criminological literature, such as women as perpetrators of state violence and their role as willing consumers who reinforce and replicate the existing state-sanctioned patriarchal status quo, makes State Crime, Women and Gender a must-read for students and scholars engaged in the study of state crime, victimology and feminist criminology.
Foreword, Dawn Rothe 1. State Crime, Women and Gender: An Introduction 2. Definitional Issues and an Introduction to Relevant Concepts 3. The Feminist Perspective and Theories of Gender-based Violence 4. War, Violence and Women: Direct Forms of State-Perpetrated Violence Against Women 5. Peace for Whom?: Indirect Forms of State-Perpetrated Violence Against Women 6. Female Criminality and State Violence 7. State Power Consumed, Replicated and Re-enforced 8. Women, Resistance and the State 9. Voices of Victimization: Access to Justice for Female Victims of State-Perpetrated Violence 10. Administering Justice: Women Working in the International Criminal Justice System 11. Concluding Thoughts.
Biography
Victoria E. Collins is an Assistant Professor in the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University. Victoria’s research and teaching interests include state perpetrated violence, victimology, white-collar crime, transnational crime, and violence against women. Some of Victoria’s recent publications have appeared in journals such as International Criminal Law Review, Critical Criminology, Contemporary Justice Review, The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, and Social Justice.
"Reflective of broader patterns within criminology as a field, research on women as victims and perpetrators of state crime has existed in the periphery. This volume is one step towards filling that gap, as Collins skillfully combines feminist and state crime research to examine the role women play in the broader political processes of state criminality, harms, and violence, as well as women’s victimization within a broad unequal system dominated by patriarchy and neoliberalism."- Dawn L. Rothe, Professor of Criminology, Old Dominion University, USA
"This lively and highly readable book is the first comprehensive account of sex, gender and state crime. Collins demonstrates the sharp end of victimisation for women during conflict and 'peacetime'. She also raises big questions about women's direct participation and collusion in state-sanctioned patriarchal violence, as well as their vehement resistance to it. While a necessary addition to the state crime literature, this text is essential reading for anyone interested in gender, crime and criminal justice issues". - Elizabeth Stanley, Reader, School of Social and Cultural Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
"This path-breaking monograph is theoretically rich and is an excellent resource for those seeking realistic solutions to acts of gender-based violence committed by state institutions. Furthermore, her definition of state crime moves well beyond narrow legalistic conceptualizations and encompasses both direct and in-direct types of state-perpetrated gender-based violence, which is another one of Collins’ most important contributions to the field." - Walter S. DeKeseredy, West Virginia University, Choice Review"Victoria Collins’ book, State Crime, Women and Gender, makes a much needed and long overdue contribution to the study of state crime…. Accessible to students and scholars alike, (it) provides an essential introduction to the complex and multifaceted relationship between state criminality and gender. Laying a solid foundation for future research, Collins’ work is a necessary first step towards forging a more integrated understanding of women and gender within the field of state crime." - -Elizabeth A. Bradshaw, Central Michigan University, Critical Criminology
