This project has received funding via the EUI ESR call 2026, dedicated to Early Stage Researchers, with the contribution of the EUI Widening Europe Programme. The EUI Widening Europe Programme initiative, backed by contributions from the European Union and EUI Contracting States, is designed to strengthen internationalisation, competitiveness, and quality in research in Widening countries, and thus foster a more cohesive European Higher Education and Research area.
This project aims to investigate female criminality during a period of increasing migration from the countryside to the city of Lisbon. Migration has often been viewed as a predominantly male and contemporary phenomenon, yet recent scholarship increasingly highlights that women also migrated frequently, either independently or with their families. Comparative evidence from other European contexts underscores the significance of female migration. In nineteenth-century Portugal, records from Porto, Lisbon, Setúbal, and Évora indicate that between 20% and 50% of brides and grooms married outside their place of birth. These patterns suggest a high degree of geographical mobility, but also reflect broader social and economic dynamics, including different marriage strategies, access to labour opportunities and welfare institutions, and the expansion of measures for social control and crime prevention.
The project examines women’s criminal behaviour, with a particular focus on migrant women, during a period of political, socio-economic, and demographic transition (1760–1860). By linking gender, crime, migration, and urbanisation, it addresses a topic that has received limited attention in Portuguese historiography. The chronology begins with the establishment of the Portuguese police (Intendência Geral da Polícia) in 1760, responsible for controlling migratory movements, regulating taverns and inns, monitoring street vagrancy, and policing female prostitution. In 1780, the Real Casa Pia was founded, a welfare institution administered by the police and tasked with the socio-professional integration of individuals involved in irregular activities. From 1860 onwards, Lisbon experienced profound political and socio-economic transformations, characterized by accelerating industrialization and a growing influx of migrants.
This research project addresses key questions, including:
- What types of crimes were women involved in, and what motivated them?
- What were their marital statuses and social backgrounds?
- Were these women migrants, and if so, were they perpetrators or victims?
- Did they occupy vulnerable positions or come from stable socio-economic contexts?
- What factors influenced their release from prison, and were they successfully reintegrated into society?
- Were they forced to return to their homelands due to legal or social pressures?
For more information about the EUI Widening Europe Programme, please visit the official webpage.