The issues
What’s the problem?
Women offenders and women at risk of offending are a highly-vulnerable and marginalised group.
- More than half of all women prisoners have experienced domestic violence, and third have experienced sexual abuse.
- Up to eighty per cent have mental health problems, and the number of self-harm incidents reported for women in prison is four times higher than for male prisoners.
- More than a third are alcoholics, and 27 per cent have a serious drug problem.
Imprisonment also has a serious impact on women’s children: ninety-five per cent of the children of women offenders have to leave their home on the conviction of their mother.
The number of women sentenced to custody has increased by more than half between 1998 and 2008. In 2008, 8,862 women, not including those on remand, were sentenced to custody. In the last decade, the women’s prison population has risen by 44 per cent; in comparison, the male prison population has risen by 26 per cent.
In particular, the numbers of women passing through prison on very short sentences is increasing rapidly. Such short sentences make meaningful engagement with rehabilitation programmes impossible.
Currently, how the criminal justice system treats women is expensive, but fails to prevent offending or help women get their lives back on track. In 2008, the UK spent £131m on women’s prisons and healthcare for women prisoners.
What’s the solution?
Part of the solution is reducing the use of custody for low-level non-violent women offenders. This prevents women being further entrenched in offending and becoming more vulnerable.
Secondly, there needs to be a move towards helping sort out the reasons why multiply-excluded women commit crime in the first place. This should run alongside credible community punishments.
Community sentences can most effectively be run alongside integrated women offender services (also known as women’s community projects or one-stop-shops). These services, run by charities, show how women offenders can be supported to deal with their problems, complete community sentences and cease offending.
