28 August 2025
When Slotboom wrote her book Criminele meisjes en vrouwen in 2012, she realised how little scientific knowledge existed about this group. ‘Yet 20% of all young suspects are girls,’ Slotboom explains. ‘Girls often commit the same kind of offences as boys, but their pathways into crime differ. That is why it is important to investigate which protective approaches are effective for girls.”
Within the chair, Slotboom focuses on two main themes. One important theme is the role of risk and protective factors in criminal behaviour among girls. Slotboom: ‘In healthcare, there is already more attention for research and treatment of women’s specific problems. In forensic care, there is hardly any focus on girls. While research shows that trauma and psychological problems play a greater role in girls’ criminal behaviour than among boys. There is a need for scientific knowledge that reflects girls’ experiences, so better policy can be developed.’
The second theme concerns criminal justice responses and interventions. ‘This relates to the treatment of girls within juvenile criminal law and the care provided after a conviction. Is the current approach effective? As professor I will work towards a scientific grounded approach for girls within the justice system. Girls deserve, just as boys do, fair sentencing and the appropriate care provided by justice authorities,’ Slotboom concludes.
Dr Anne-Marie Slotboom has been appointed, as of 1 September, Professor by Special Appointment of the Development of crime among girls and women from an orthopedagogical and forensic perspective. She is also Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her main publications focus on detention conditions in women’s prisons, the experiences of women in detention, and girls in juvenile justice. She also coordinated a study for the Dutch Ministry of Justice into the need for gender-specific interventions.