This report includes information on women in the criminal justice system in the following areas: offending, arrests and police disposals, remand and mode of trial, sentencing community penalties, women in custody, victims of crime, and women practitioners in the criminal justice system. By 2005, there are expected to be about 3 percent more females aged 10 to 59 in the population than in 2000. The number in the 15 to 20 age group, covering the peak age of offending, is expected to increase by 8 percent. According to a self-report study, women were less likely than men to have offended in the last year (11 percent compared to 26 percent). Women were most likely to stop offending in their late teens. The peak age of reported offending for girls was 14. Research shows that following arrest, women were more likely than men to be cautioned and were less likely to have further action taken or be charged. Sixteen percent of those arrested for notifiable offenses were women, but the proportion was higher for fraud (27 percent) and theft (21 percent). Although women were less likely than men to be remanded in custody or committed for trial, this mainly reflected differences in offending history and type of offense. Women were more likely than men to be discharged or given a community sentence for indictable offenses and were less likely to be fined or sentenced to custody. The top offenses for women sentenced to custody were: theft from shops, wounding, fraud, production, supply and possession with intent to supply a class A controlled substance, summary motoring, burglary, and handling of stolen goods. There were 3,350 women in prison in 2000, which made up 5.2 percent of the total prison population. Three percent of adult women had been the victim of at least one violent crime in 1999. Tables and figures