Abstract The aim of this paper is to, first, discuss the state of the art of the literature on criminality and women’s criminalisation. In mapping contemporary criminological studies, it seeks, secondly, to delimit the themes and the topics of research of feminist criminology and critical criminology, in order to identify zones of convergence and conflict. The main hypothesis of the article is that it is possible to identify the constant use of positivist criminology in studies involving crimes committed by and / or against women, and that feminist criminology and critical criminology, despite differences (real and / or apparent) in the epistemological and political-criminal fields, present a common anti-positivist identity that allows the reshaping of questions that combine criminal and gender issues. The study conducts a review of the main literature on the topic, followed by a theoretical reflection that seeks to identify a common hypothesis or shared identity between critical theory (critical criminology) and feminism (feminist criminology).