Between 1856 and 1975 when the death penalty was used in Victoria, women constituted only 13.5 percent of the total offender population. Only 7 percent of all offenders sentenced to death were women, and only five women actually went to the gallows. Despite objections by some and general public ambivalence toward the execution of women, the government undertook this action to send a symbolic message to the community. A key problem, however, was that women were often judged based on their conformity to gender stereotypes and not according to their actions and objective legal criteria. The government and the courts acted according to political dictates and societal prejudices at the time. The arbitrary and discriminatory nature of the death penalty, particularly for women, is discussed, and the authors conclude that capital punishment is a product of prevailing political and social processes. 5 references