In this study, three groups of women offenders were compared: repeat violent women offenders, one-time violent women offenders, and nonviolent women offenders. These three groups were compared based on various criteria: socio-demographic, offense type, sentence length, risk, and need levels. Data were obtained for federally-sentenced women admitted to the Correctional Service of Canada between 1995 and 2001 (n=1,995). When categorized as violent, a woman offender had been convicted of Schedule I and homicide offenses. Comparisons indicate that women offenders comprising the one-time and repeat violent groups were most similar. They were more likely to be Aboriginal, and to be assessed as higher need and higher risk than their nonviolent counterparts. Overall, the findings have important implications for the design and delivery of programs that target criminogenic needs among the women offender population.