By 2006, there are expected to be around 1.8 percent more females aged 10 to 59 in the population than in 2001. Women were less likely than men to have offended in the last year. Women ‘grow out of crime’ -- they are most likely to desist from offending in their late teens. The peak age of reported offending for girls is 14. Sixteen percent of those arrested for notifiable offenses are women but the proportion is higher for fraud and forgery (27 percent) and theft and handling (22 percent). Research suggests that following arrest, women are more likely than men to be cautioned and are less likely to have their cases classified as No Further Action or be charged. Although women are less likely than men to be remanded in custody or committed for trial, this mainly reflects differences in offending history and type of offense. Women are more likely than men to be discharged or given a community sentence for indictable offenses and are less likely to be fined or sentenced to custody. The top eight offenses for women sentenced to custody in 2001 were theft from shops; fraud; wounding; production, supply, and possession with intent to supply a class A controlled drug; summary motoring; burglary of all kinds; handling stolen goods; and robbery. In 2001, women accounted for 13 percent of those starting orders under the supervision of the Probation Service. Women prisoners make up more than 5 percent of the prison population. Women in custody tend to be serving shorter sentences than men. A recent health care assessment of prisoners found that 60 percent of women rated their own health as fair, poor, or very poor. Female prisoners had a higher rate of offending against prison discipline than men. More than 5 percent of adult men and 2.8 percent of adult women had been the victim of at least one violent crime in the previous 12 months in 2001. 25 figures, 25 tables, bibliography