The 2007 Corston Report made the case for a completely new approach to women’s offending – one which is “distinct, radically different, visibly-led, strategic, proportionate, holistic, woman-centred [and] integrated.” The report cited several projects run by charities which demonstrated how women offenders could be supported to deal with their problems, complete community sentences and cease offending. These pioneers included Asha, a women’s centre in Worcester and Calderdale Women’s Centre (now WomenCentre Ltd), in Halifax.

Building on the excellent work done by these charities, in 2009 the Ministry of Justice invested £15.6m in similar projects. There are now more than 36 services working in this way.

These integrated women offender services are for the most part run by small or medium-sized charities. They provide an alternative to prison, enabling magistrates to sentence women to community penalties with confidence and in the knowledge that they genuinely aid rehabilitation. They provide wraparound support, helping women stabilise their lives, get somewhere to live, deal with drug and alcohol addiction and past abuse, and get help for mental health issues.

They support women at risk of offending, and support women leaving prison to resettle into the community and reduce their offending. Throughout, they work in partnership with the probation service, prisons and the police, as well as with local health and social services, and other charities.

This map shows approximate locations of services around the country.

View Integrated women offenders services updated in a larger map

Research from the New Economics Foundation has shown that for every pound invested in support–focused community penalties rather than prison, £14 worth of value is generated to women, their children, victims and to society generally over ten years. If alternatives to prison were to achieve an additional reduction of just six per cent in re–offending, the state would recoup the investment required to achieve this in just one year, and the long–run value of these benefits is in excess of £100 million over a ten–year period.