Women offenders: after the Corston Report - United Kingdom ...
Women offenders: after the Corston Report - United Kingdom ...
Women offenders: after the Corston Report - United Kingdom ...
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Justice Committee: Evidence Ev 117Recommendations— Custodial sentences for women should be reserved for serious and violent individuals who pose athreat to <strong>the</strong> public.— The Ministry of Justice must ensure continued funding for <strong>the</strong> delivery of services for women oncommunity sentences.— Sentencers should be fully informed about <strong>the</strong> range of community provision available for women, itseffectiveness in preventing offending and <strong>the</strong> 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 <strong>the</strong> penal system have multiple and complex needs and<strong>the</strong> criminal justice system is not <strong>the</strong> most appropriate agency to meet <strong>the</strong>se needs. In many cases, women’sand girl’s problems are exacerbated by <strong>the</strong>ir entry into <strong>the</strong> penal system.5.2 The Department of Health, <strong>the</strong> Department for Education and <strong>the</strong> Department for Communities andLocal Government must work collaboratively with <strong>the</strong> Ministry of Justice and provide gender specific supportfor <strong>the</strong> most vulnerable women and girls to prevent <strong>the</strong>m ending up in <strong>the</strong> penal system or in custody.6. Girls6.1 The Howard League for Penal Reform supported <strong>the</strong> All Party Parliamentary Group on <strong>Women</strong> in <strong>the</strong>Penal System’s inquiry on girls. The year-long inquiry found <strong>the</strong>re was a lack of gender specific provision forgirls and a lack of understanding about <strong>the</strong> specific needs of girls in <strong>the</strong> penal system. Girls were brought into<strong>the</strong> penal system because of unaddressed welfare needs including neglect, abuse and poverty. The majority hadcommitted minor misdemeanours. Evidence from <strong>the</strong> YJB (2011) showed that <strong>the</strong> 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 <strong>the</strong> needs of girls in <strong>the</strong> penal system were overlooked or subsumed by <strong>the</strong> needsof boys. Girls accounted for 22% of <strong>the</strong> young people supervised by youth offending teams and 0.1% of <strong>the</strong>total prison population. Evidence submitted to <strong>the</strong> inquiry highlighted <strong>the</strong> lack of policy and practice guidanceabout girls’ needs and <strong>the</strong> fact that youth justice intervention programmes were largely based on maleoffending patterns.6.3 The YJB has recognised <strong>the</strong> need for a different approach to working with girls and is developing atoolkit for YOTs. However, many of <strong>the</strong> girls who end up in <strong>the</strong> penal system do not need to be <strong>the</strong>re.Inappropriate criminal justice interventions for girls are expensive and counterproductive, increasing <strong>the</strong>irchances of remaining in <strong>the</strong> penal system as young women. There should be a greater focus on supportingvulnerable girls to prevent <strong>the</strong>m ending up in <strong>the</strong> penal system and diverting <strong>the</strong>m to more appropriateinterventions if necessary.Recommendations— In accordance with <strong>the</strong> <strong>United</strong> Nations Convention on <strong>the</strong> Rights of <strong>the</strong> Child article 3, <strong>the</strong> bestinterests of <strong>the</strong> 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 <strong>the</strong>y 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 <strong>the</strong> basis of gender.— Prison units for girls should be closed, in line with <strong>the</strong> recommendations of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Corston</strong> report. Thefew girls who require custody should only ever be held in secure children’s homes with highlytrained staff and <strong>the</strong>rapeutic interventions to meet <strong>the</strong>ir needs.7. <strong>Women</strong> with children7.1 There are no robust statistics about <strong>the</strong> numbers of children affected by <strong>the</strong>ir mo<strong>the</strong>r’s contact with <strong>the</strong>criminal justice system. A study by <strong>the</strong> Cabinet Office found that <strong>the</strong>re was little information about womenserving community sentences or <strong>the</strong>ir families and <strong>the</strong> Prison Service or children’s services did not routinelycollect information regarding <strong>the</strong> dependents of mo<strong>the</strong>rs in prison. The report stated:Over half of women in prison are estimated to be mo<strong>the</strong>rs, although <strong>the</strong>re are no definitive statisticson <strong>the</strong> number of women <strong>offenders</strong> who are parents, or robust data on <strong>the</strong>ir children.7.2 The Howard League for Penal Reform (2011) submitted evidence to <strong>the</strong> <strong>United</strong> Nations Committee on<strong>the</strong> Rights of <strong>the</strong> Child on <strong>the</strong> impact of <strong>the</strong> imprisonment of a parent on children. It found a large proportionof imprisoned mo<strong>the</strong>rs were single parents. Only five% of female prisoners’ children remained in <strong>the</strong> familyhome compared to 90% of male prisoners’ children. The imprisonment of a mo<strong>the</strong>r was damaging to childrencausing mental health problems, grief, poverty and low self-esteem.