All European nations report a marked predominance of men in their criminal justice systems. Women commit more crimes than they did earlier in this century, but still far fewer than men, less often, and less violently. These conclusions are derived from administrative data from European criminal justice systems. Various self-report studies and victim surveys have not found excessive rates that would challenge the significant under-representation of women in official crime data. Very few female offenders are imprisoned in most European countries. Legal and penal policy changes have produced fluctuations and generally a decline in the numbers and the rate of female imprisonment in the 20th century in Europe. Since there are relatively few female offenders under the jurisdiction of criminal justice systems, they receive far fewer resources and services than male offenders. Regarding female offender profiles, they are generally poor, uneducated, and without significant job skills. There is no indication that the women' liberation movement has changed the profile of female offenders. If women are not to be ignored in criminal justice policy, all criminal justice data must have gender breakdowns, and research studies must include women in their analyses. More comparative data must also be made available in usable form. 2 tables