In its broadest sense, law is a set of formalized and codified rules that govern behavior and carry negative sanctions for violations. Rich, white males are most influential in making laws. Women, minorities, the poor, and the working class rarely benefit from it. Because the law is created by and for the dominant class, it tends to criminalize nondominant classes who also are most likely to be victims of crime. Traditionally, women have been treated as property under the law. But today, women are seen as equal before the law, yet their patriarchal relation to the home as wives and mothers has consequences for their treatment in the larger society, while traditional notions of sex-roles continue to influence their treatment under the law. Three movements have been influential in challenging sexually discriminatory law at the State and Federal levels: the women's movement, the prisoners' rights movement, and sentencing reform. 9 notes and 48 references.