Pathways to prison in Cambodia for homicide offending

Abstract

Studies undertaken on female homicide offenders are limited in both number and breadth, particularly within South East Asia. This article has consequently chosen to explore Cambodian women’s narratives of their journeys to prison for homicide offending using a feminist pathway approach. Results show a number of common threads in the women’s stories: childhood instability, economic marginalisation, criminalisation occurring within the milieu of a relationship with a man and limited access to justice and/or ability to benefit from corrupted criminal justice practices. Additionally, six distinct pathways were identified from the narratives: 1) domestic violence pathway, 2) pathway of marital abandonment, 3) traumatic life history pathway, 4) deviant women pathway, 5) pathway of male association, 6) pathway of feminine familial sacrifice.