Crime Has No Gender – Belgian woman in Europol’s list of most wanted criminals
On Friday, the Europol has launched a new campaign, “Crime has no gender”. The aim is to demonstrate that women can commit crimes that are as heinous as those committed by men. Therefore, on its website, the 21 “most wanted” criminals are shown hidden by a mask. Only by clicking on the face it is possible to find out whether they are men or women. 18 are women.
Among the “most wanted” criminals, also appears a Belgian woman. Hilde Van Acker from Sint-Niklaas, in East Flanders, is wanted for murdering a British businessman. She was sentenced to life prison after killing Marcus John Mitchell on 23 March 1996, with her boyfriend. The man was killed with two bullets on the neck. Since then, both killers are on the run.
“The intention is to emphasize that there is also diversity and gender balance in crime,” said Tine Hollevoet from Europol to VRT NWS. “Much research has been done in the past on how gender plays a role in crime. But the majority of those studies focused on the sex of the victim, and less often on that of the perpetrator,” she continued. “The goal is to attract as many visitors to the website as possible. Experience has taught us that the more people see fugitives, the better the chances are to find and arrest them,” Hollevoet concluded.
