The author considers contemporary quantitative and qualitative criteria of female criminality and singles out three periods in its development, each characterized by specific tendencies. Thus, the first period of 1997-2000 is characterized by a steady increase of female criminality, the second period of 2001-2004 - by a decrease that could be explained by changes in the criminal legislation and a general decrease of the crime level in the Russian Federation, and the third period since 2005 to the present is again characterized by a steady tendency for the increase in the number of such crimes. The analysis of the crime structure showed that 81 % of all crimes are crimes against property (44 %), crimes against public health (21 %) and crimes against life and health (16 %). The practice of determining punishment for women is characterized, in the overwhelming majority of cases, by imprisonment for a certain period of time (56 %), including conditional sentences in 60 % of cases. A penalty is inflicted for each fifth women and mandatory works - for each tenth. Women are sentenced for correctional work in 6,6 % of cases. The analysis of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of female criminality as well as the practice of allocating punishment for women proves the necessity for its more detailed analysis, including the analysis that applies gender approach.