The article examines different assumptions and hypotheses regarding the possible discrimination of men and women in the criminal justice process. The first part of the article outlines several theoretical models: the chivalry and evil women hypotheses, the legal or etiological model, the social control theory, the family-based justice model, and a multifactorial model. The second part of the article presents the results of empirical research relevant to these hypotheses. A literature review showed that the chivalry hypothesis cannot offer an all-embracing explanation for the possibly perceived preferential treatment of women. Similar conclusions can be drawn for the explanatory value of the legal model, although legal factors can offer no more than a partial explanation for observed sex differences in the criminal justice system. The literature suggests that, especially in pretrial release, sentencing, and deciding whether or not to send a defendant to prison, an (initially observed) more lenient treatment of women can be explained by stereotypes and expectations about the personality of women as less dangerous and the specific role of women in Western society. Notes, references