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

Justice Committee: Evidence Ev 117Recommendations— Custodial sentences for women should be reserved for serious and violent individuals who pose athreat to the public.— The Ministry of Justice must ensure continued funding for the delivery of services for women oncommunity sentences.— Sentencers should be fully informed about the range of community provision available for women, itseffectiveness in preventing offending and the ineffectiveness of short custodial sentences for women.5. The availability of appropriate provision for different groups of women including girls, women withchildren and those with mental health problems5.1 The vast majority of women and girls who enter the penal system have multiple and complex needs andthe criminal justice system is not the most appropriate agency to meet these needs. In many cases, women’sand girl’s problems are exacerbated by their entry into the penal system.5.2 The Department of Health, the Department for Education and the Department for Communities andLocal Government must work collaboratively with the Ministry of Justice and provide gender specific supportfor the most vulnerable women and girls to prevent them ending up in the penal system or in custody.6. Girls6.1 The Howard League for Penal Reform supported the All Party Parliamentary Group on Women in thePenal System’s inquiry on girls. The year-long inquiry found there was a lack of gender specific provision forgirls and a lack of understanding about the specific needs of girls in the penal system. Girls were brought intothe penal system because of unaddressed welfare needs including neglect, abuse and poverty. The majority hadcommitted minor misdemeanours. Evidence from the YJB (2011) showed that the number of offencescommitted by girls had fallen. The number of violent offences committed by girls fell from 17,415 in 2006–07to 12,291 in 2009–10, a fall of 29%.6.2 The inquiry found that the needs of girls in the penal system were overlooked or subsumed by the needsof boys. Girls accounted for 22% of the young people supervised by youth offending teams and 0.1% of thetotal prison population. Evidence submitted to the inquiry highlighted the lack of policy and practice guidanceabout girls’ needs and the fact that youth justice intervention programmes were largely based on maleoffending patterns.6.3 The YJB has recognised the need for a different approach to working with girls and is developing atoolkit for YOTs. However, many of the girls who end up in the penal system do not need to be there.Inappropriate criminal justice interventions for girls are expensive and counterproductive, increasing theirchances of remaining in the penal system as young women. There should be a greater focus on supportingvulnerable girls to prevent them ending up in the penal system and diverting them to more appropriateinterventions if necessary.Recommendations— In accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child article 3, the bestinterests of the child should be paramount consideration in all matters concerning girls.— Children should be kept out of penal system and all agencies that come into contact with childrenshould be judged on how they are achieving this.— The criminal justice system should not be used to solve social problems.— The youth justice system should not discriminate against children on the basis of gender.— Prison units for girls should be closed, in line with the recommendations of the Corston report. Thefew girls who require custody should only ever be held in secure children’s homes with highlytrained staff and therapeutic interventions to meet their needs.7. Women with children7.1 There are no robust statistics about the numbers of children affected by their mother’s contact with thecriminal justice system. A study by the Cabinet Office found that there was little information about womenserving community sentences or their families and the Prison Service or children’s services did not routinelycollect information regarding the dependents of mothers in prison. The report stated:Over half of women in prison are estimated to be mothers, although there are no definitive statisticson the number of women offenders who are parents, or robust data on their children.7.2 The Howard League for Penal Reform (2011) submitted evidence to the United Nations Committee onthe Rights of the Child on the impact of the imprisonment of a parent on children. It found a large proportionof imprisoned mothers were single parents. Only five% of female prisoners’ children remained in the familyhome compared to 90% of male prisoners’ children. The imprisonment of a mother was damaging to childrencausing mental health problems, grief, poverty and low self-esteem.