Women offenders: after the Corston Report - United Kingdom ...

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Ev 110Justice Committee: Evidence56. All of this is absent for foreign national prisoners, except for women from the European Economic Area.There is the increasing expectancy that they will be removed at the end of sentence and there is little value intheir attending pre-release groups. Currently the only relevant post release support for those being deported isthrough Hibiscus and in the form of reintegration support by Integrated Offender Management (IOM) for thewomen who are granted a “facilitated return”. The University of Cambridge has recently published researchbacked by the Economic and Social Research Council which sets out the difficulties faced by foreign nationalwomen and the pressing need for reform. 61Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Women57. Whilst prison regimes try to meet the specific needs of women offenders there is evidence that BMEprisoners have disproportionately worse experiences in the criminal justice system than their white counterparts.Monitoring the situation is made more difficult by data reporting by key government departments and agencies.Currently publication of data by the Ministry of Justice on ethnicity and gender is separated; this means thatexamining the experiences of black, Asian and minority ethnic women is not routinely possible. As theInspectorate of Prisons stated in their report Race relations in Prisons:Although there is information about women prisoners’ distinct and specific needs—the high ratesof mental health problems, substance-related needs, abuse histories, self-harming behaviours andresettlement requirements—very little attention has been paid to the differential experiences withinthe women’s population.58. There have been a number of useful studies however that point to the particular differences anddisadvantages faced by BME prisoners.59. Hamlyn and Lewis noted that BME women reported less choice (58%) than white women (67%) in thework that they did in prison. The former were also less likely than their white counterparts to believe thatprison work gave prisoners new skills which could help them on release, and were more likely to consider thatprison work might be used as a form of punishment. 6260. The Prison Service Women and Young People’s Group found that BAME female prisoners were moreoften employed in contract workshops whereas white women were more likely to be employed in jobs offeringlearning and skills training with vocational qualifications attached. This may hinder BAME women offendersin their resettlement efforts, particularly as such skills may increase confidence and self-esteem which areessential in attempts to re-enter the labour market.61. Despite higher numbers of BME women serving custodial sentences for drug related offences, surveysconducted by HMCIP have shown significantly fewer black and minority ethnic women reporting that theyhad problems with drugs on arrival than their white counterparts (18% compared with 41%), or that they wouldhave a problem with drugs or alcohol once they had left prison. The Inspectorate recommended:“The distinct patterns of drug use by different ethnic groups within the women’s population suggeststhat provision and commissioning of services should reflect the needs of the population and notconcentrate principally on heroin abuse, the main drug of choice for white British nationals.”62. The Home Office has also found that drug use and self harm amongst BME women are linked, suggestingthat both substance misuse and emotional support needed to be strengthened amongst the BME prisonpopulation. 6363. The Prisons Inspectorate believes that there is currently under-reporting of mental illness from peoplewithin black and minority ethnic communities, for reasons including fear of race discrimination. It drawsattention to recent reports which have referred to “institutional racism” within mental health services. 64 As aresult, mental health needs among black and minority ethnic communities are likely to be picked up only whenthey become acute, and disproportionately as a result of contact with the criminal justice system.64. Surveys by the HMCIP have also shown that both black and minority ethnic and foreign national womenreported more problems ensuring dependants were looked after than white and British women. Both thesegroups of women were also more likely to report that they had not had a visit within their first week in prisoncompared with white and British women.Mental Health65. The high prevalence of mental health problems within the female prison population have been welldocumented over the past decade. Baroness Corston was commissioned by the government to review and reporton vulnerable women in the criminal justice system following the deaths of six women at HMP Styal; and a61 Hales, L And Gelsthorpe, L (2012). The Criminalisation of Migrant Women, Cambridge: Institute of Criminology, Universityof Cambridge62 Hamlyn, B and Lewis, D (2000). Women prisoners: a survey of their work and training experience in custody and on release.Home Office Research Study 208. London: Home Office63 Home Office (2003) The Substance Misuse Treatment Needs of Minority Prisoner Groups: Women, young offenders and ethnicminorities, Home Office Development and Practice Report 8, London: Home Office64 Department of Health (2005). Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Care: An action plan for reform inside and outsideservices and the government’s response to the independent inquiry into the death of David Bennett. Department of Health
Justice Committee: Evidence Ev 111University of Oxford survey of 500 women in prison showed shocking contrasts in the mental and physicalhealth between them and the general female population.66. The Corston report found that short spells in prison, often on remand, damage women’s mental healthand family life yet do little or nothing to stop them offending again. The damage is made much worse whenwomen are imprisoned long distances from home and their families and receive inadequate health care duringand after their time in prison. Of all the women who are sent to prison, 37% said they have attempted suicideat some time in their life. 6567. The University of Oxford research showed that women in custody are five times more likely to have amental health concern than women in the general population, with “78% exhibiting some level of psychologicaldisturbance when measured on reception to prison, compared with a figure of 15% for the general adultfemale population”. 6668. Despite positive work by NOMS levels of self harm by women remain high, accounting for 36% of selfharm incidents although only making up 5% of the total prison population. 67 It should however be noted thatthis is considerably lower than in previous years.69. Notwithstanding some progress we don’t believe that prison is the best setting in which to delivereffective treatment for mental illness. Prison separates people from families and friends who can provideimportant networks of support, and the additional trauma of losing a home and a job, which are frequentconsequences of a custodial sentence, can also be significant barriers to recovery. Given that 58% of womensentenced to custody in 2011 received sentences of six months or less there is extremely limited time to providesupport to women. Imprisonment destroys the little stability they may have in the community. 68 For thoseserving longer sentences, frequent transfers between different establishments disrupt progress on treatment andprogrammes which they have started, often unable to continue in their new prison.“I believe women are in far more danger of becoming mentally ill during their incarceration:especially those that are family carers and have close family ties. The prison system is not preparedproperly for this, for the complexity of women and their issues that do affect them deeply, mentallyrather than physically.”—Woman formerly in prison. 6970. We welcome the coalition government’s commitment to roll out a national liaison and diversion schemeby 2014, backed by £50 million funding from the Department of Health, working with the Ministry of Justice.While a prison sentence may be appropriate for the most serious and violent offenders, a far greater emphasisshould be placed on treatment in the community through the use of diversion and liaison schemes for peoplemental health problems and learning disabilities and difficulties. For the most serious offenders with mentalhealth problems or learning disabilities or difficulties, for whom there is no other option but to impose acustodial sentence, equivalent treatment should be available in prison with clear links between prison andlocal health and community services. Proper provision for the continuation of treatment between custodialestablishments and on release should be in place throughout the system, facilitated by a genuine integratedoffender management approach.A large proportion of women who come here have mental health issues together with drug andalcohol dependency. Those with serious mental health issues are well served but it is likely that othersslip through the net, especially if they are engaged in detox programmes. 70 (Prison IMB chair)71. The National Federation of Women’s Institutes, the WI, is running a Care not Custody campaign acrossEngland and Wales following the tragic death by suicide in prison of the mentally ill son of a WI member.The WI and the Prison Reform Trust are leading a coalition of organisations, including the NHS Confederation,Royal College of Nursing, Royal College of Psychiatrists, Police Federation, Law Society POA and PGA,representing over one million professional staff, set up to monitor reform and ensure the government keeps itscare not custody promise.72. The Women’s Justice Taskforce during its inquiry heard of the successful court liaison and outreachproject delivered by Together at Thames Magistrates’ court. This is a model that could be considered forextension nationally.Exemplar: TogetherTogether, a national mental health charity, is funded by London Probation Trust, Primary Care Trusts, localauthorities and charitable trusts to offer specialist expertise to offenders with mental health and multiple needs.They deliver a women’s project based at Thames Magistrates court, staffed by a female practitioner. It offers65 Corston, J (2007). The Corston Report, London: Home Office66 Plugge, E, et al (2006). The Health of Women in Prison, Oxford: Department of Public Health, University of Oxford67Table 2.1 Self Harm, Ministry of Justice (2012) Safety in Custody Statistics Quarterly Bulletin, January to March 2012, London:Ministry of Justice68 Table 2.1c, Ministry of Justice (2012) Offender Management Caseload Statistics Quarterly Bulletin October to December 2011,London: Ministry of Justice69Rickford, D (2003). Troubled Inside: Responding to the Mental Health Needs of Women in Prison, London: Prison ReformTrust70 Edgar, K and Rickford, D (2009). Too Little Too Late: An Independent Review of Unmet Mental Health Need in Prison, London:Prison Reform Trust
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