WOMEN AND CRIME: THE IMAGE OF WOMEN IN THE TEXTS OF SPANISH JUDICIAL SENTENCES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

WOMEN AND CRIME: THE IMAGE OF WOMEN IN THE TEXTS OF SPANISH JUDICIAL SENTENCES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Ramírez Ruiz, Raúl, "Women and Crime: The Image of  Women in the Text of Spanish Judicial Sentences at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century", en García Ramos, Mª D. y Ramos Rovi, MªJ. (Eds.), Deconstructing Gender Stereotypesin Western Tradition, Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024, pp. 266-291.

WOMEN AND CRIME: THE IMAGE OF WOMEN IN THE TEXTS OF SPANISH JUDICIAL SENTENCES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The origin of this study was an investigation aimed at reconstructing criminality in the province of Cordoba between 1900 and 1931. In it, we verified the presence of women, but in a way that was undervalued by the authorities and society. The result of this research was the publication of the book "La criminalidad como fuente histórica", which analysed all types of crimes in a general way. But this author had yet to return to the source to study all those cases in which we saw violence against women being unleashed. For this reason, years later we published the research “Estudio sobre la violencia contra la mujer en el primer tercio del siglo XX: la provincia de Córdoba” (Ramírez Ruiz 121–55). But there was still some information left in that source. This work, which deals with “imperfect women,” gave us the opportunity to go back to the source to look for the other facet of women’s involvement in the world of crime: crime involving women. To do this, we had to select those sentences in which women appeared as “accused.”

We were aware that the Judgment Books of the Audiencia were one of those hidden, ignored sources, waiting to be interrogated and publicised for the enrichment of women’s history. We follow in the footsteps of many researchers who, after the work of Anderson and Zinsser, began to search for sources in search of women’s “own history.” This situation made source finding a central issue in the development of gender studies.

Indice.

1. A Study and an Original Source

2. Women in Spain in the First Third of the Twentieth Century

3. Introduction and General Framework

4. Crimes Against Authority

5. Crimes Against Persons

5.1. The Crimes

5.2. Women Charged with Crimes Against Persons 

6. The Crimes (Against Persons): An Analysis

6.1. Injuries

6.2. Shooting, Homicide and Murder 

6.3. Infanticides, Parricides and Illegal Burials

6.4. Corruption of Minors

 6.5. Slander and Libel

7. Crimes Against Property 

7.1. The Crimes (Against Property)

7.2. Women Charged with Property Crimes 

7.3. Analysis of the Crimes (Against Property)

Petty theft 

 Scams

 Theft

Embezzlement 

8. Conclusions

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