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

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Ev 118Justice Committee: Evidence7.3 Provision for women with babies in prison is extremely limited. Mother and Baby Units (MBUs) providea very restrictive experience for mothers and their babies. Opportunities for women to make the choices thatmost mothers take for granted are limited. Simple activities such as taking your child to the park for somefresh air are not an option for mothers imprisoned with their babies. Women’s lack of autonomy in prisonmeans their capacity to create a sense of home and family for their baby is diminished.7.4 The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick, has raised concerns about the fact very few units allowmothers to cook wholesome food for their children. A report by the Children’s Commissioner for England(Office of the Children’s Commissioner, 2008) into prison MBUs concluded that:There should be an end to the routine use of custody for women who are pregnant, or mothersof very young children, other than in exceptional circumstances where they represent a dangerto society.7.5 In 2010 the Howard League for Penal Reform’s legal team represented a teenage girl who had breachedher community order and was sentenced to custody for a significant proportion of her pregnancy. We appealedthe sentence on the grounds it was manifestly excessive but this appeal was refused. We have since lodged anapplication with the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that UK courts failed to comply withtheir duties under international law including their duties under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.Recommendations— The very small number of mothers who require a custodial sentence should not be housed in prisonsbut instead should be kept with their babies in local secure units.— The majority of mothers currently serving custodial sentences could be safely managed in communitybased programmes.— Sentencers should be required to consider the welfare of a mother’s children before sentencing herto custody as is the practice in South Africa.8. Women and girls with mental health problems8.1 Lawyers from the Howard League for Penal Reform legal team have represented girls and young womenin prison with mental health problems. The Howard League for Penal Reform (2008) submitted evidence toindependent review, conducted by Lord Bradley on the diversion of individuals with mental health problemsfrom the criminal justice system and prison. It is a stakeholder for the development of the NICE clinicalguidance aimed at improving the mental health of people in prison.8.2 Prison aggravates mental health problems. The distress manifested by imprisoned girls and women withmental health needs is often treated as a discipline issue by prison staff. This leads to an increase in selfharmingand suicidal behaviour. Prison staff are not appropriately trained or qualified to deal with this behaviourand it can be damaging for everyone involved.Case Study“A” was a 21 year old woman who had a history of mental health problems, self-harm and attemptedsuicide exacerbated by her time in custody. The Howard League legal team represented her duringher time in custody for a number of adjudications and parole hearings. A number of the incidentswhich gave rise to the adjudications related to A’s self-harm. For example, A would damage propertyin order to gain materials to use for self-harming. In light of A’s medical history, these incidentsshould not have been dealt with in this way by the prison. Following representations being made bythe legal team these adjudications were quashed and deleted from A’s records.During the process of representing A for her prison law disciplinary matters, her solicitors at theHoward League became aware of her significant mental health issues and were concerned that theprison in which she was detained was not an appropriate place for her to be held as she was notreceiving the medical treatment and support she needed. On A’s instructions, they assisted inobtaining an independent psychiatric assessment of A which led to her being transferred from theprison to a secure psychiatric hospital under the Mental Health Act. Once at hospital she was ableto receive appropriate medical help to assist with her recovery.8.3 Diverting women and girls with mental health problems from the criminal justice system and prison mustbe a key priority at every stage of the criminal justice process, from the decision to prosecute, to sentencing andtransfers of prisoners with mental health problems to hospital. The failure to divert women and girls oftenleads to destructive coping strategies, such as self-harm, which are more likely to extend into adulthood ifestablished at a young age.8.4 Mental health services in the community are often inadequate and under-resourced and this is magnifiedin custody. Given the disproportionately high numbers of women and girls in prison with mental healthproblems, there is an even greater need for mental health services yet often the treatment they need is notavailable. Even if it were, it is questionable how effective treatment would be when carried out in a punitiverather than a therapeutic setting.
Justice Committee: Evidence Ev 1198.5 The government’s commitment to develop a national network expansion of liaison and diversion schemesat police stations and courts by 2014 should help to ensure that more women are diverted from the penalsystem towards more appropriate interventions. However, in its evaluation of mental health diversion schemesthe Centre for Mental Health (2009) found that opportunities for diversion were being missed and diversionservices had developed in a haphazard and piecemeal way.8.6 The punishment of women and girls with mental health problems intensifies the cycle of offending andplaces them, staff who work with them and the public in great danger. Breaking the link between people withmental health problems and the criminal justice system must be a key priority.Recommendations— Women and girls with mental health problems should not be held in prison custody.— Every effort should be made to divert women and girls with mental health problems from the penalsystem into more appropriate services at the earliest opportunity.9. Conclusions9.1 The majority of women who end up in the penal system have committed non-violent offences. Many ofthese women have more than one problem which needs addressing including drug and alcohol problems,domestic violence, experiences of sexual abuse or rape. The criminal justice system is ill-equipped to tacklethese multiple problems and in many cases, compounds rather than solves issues, increasing a woman’s chanceshe will end up in custody.9.2 Whilst there has been widespread recognition that women who end up in the penal system have differentneeds to men and a different approach is needed to prevent them ending up in custody, there still appears tobe a lack of commitment to tackle the inappropriate use of custody for women and to close women’s prisons.ReferencesAll Party Parliamentary Group on Women in the Penal System (2011) Women in the Penal System: Secondreport on women with particular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system. London: the Howard Leaguefor Penal Reform.All Party Parliamentary Group on women in the Penal System (2012) Inquiry on girls: keeping girls out of thepenal system. London: the Howard League for Penal Reform.All Party Parliamentary Group on women in the Penal System (2012) Inquiry on girls: From courts to custody.London: the Howard League for Penal ReformThe Centre for Mental Health (2008) Briefing 36: The Police and Mental Health. London: the Centre forMental Health.The Centre for Mental Health (2009) Diversion: a better way for criminal justice and mental health. London:the Centre for Mental Health.The Centre for Mental Health (2011) Briefing 39: Mental Health Care and the Criminal Justice system, London:the Centre for Mental HealthHome Office (2007) The Corston report: a report by Baroness Jean Corston of a review of women withparticular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system. London: the Home Office.The Howard League for Penal Reform (2008) Submission to the independent review of the diversion ofindividuals with mental health problems from the criminal justice system and prison. London: The HowardLeague for Penal Reform.The Howard League for Penal Reform (2011) Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the ChildDay of general discussion 2011 on the children of incarcerated parents.Hansard (2011) HC Deb, 10 November 2011, c442HMI Probation, HMCPSI and HMI Prisons (2011) Thematic Inspection Report: Equal but different? Aninspection of the use of alternatives to custody for women offenders. London: CJJIMinistry of Justice (2007) The Government’s Response to the Report by Baroness Corston of a Review ofWomen with Particular Vulnerabilities in the Criminal Justice System. London: Ministry of JusticeMinistry of Justice (2012) Statistical bulletin: Criminal justice statistics quarterly update to December 2011.London: Ministry of Justice.YJB (2011) Youth justice statistics 2009/2010, England and Wales. London: Youth Justice Board/Ministryof JusticeSeptember 2012
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