This book, grounded in American women’s history, explores the ongoing process of taking gender into account in the U.S. justice system. Women came late to the making, applying, and enforcing of the law. How has the creation of the law by and for men affected women? How has increased participation of women in the justice system made a difference? Equal Protection of the Law? Gender and Justice in the United States provides a readable account of the evolution of women’s constitutional status, as well as stories of their participation in the criminal justice system as workers, victims, and offenders. It focuses on how the experiences of prior generations can illuminate the continued challenges of gender and inequality.

The Author: Mary Welek Atwell holds a Ph.D. in history from Saint Louis University in Missouri. She is Professor of Criminal Justice at Radford University in Virginia.