Women's drug use is believed to be a defining factor in their participation in crime and it is argued that the severity of women's drug use is more closely related to their criminality than it is for men, particularly for prostitution and property crime. Women drug users, particularly those who have been incarcerated, experience higher levels of abuse, economic hardship and other adversity in their lives than men. In this paper Katie Willis and Cathie Rushforth outline Australian and international research on the links between women's drug use and their criminal behaviour. It describes the common risk factors, reviews key data and research and considers drug use and criminality together.