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

38 Women offenders: after the Corston ReportGirls92. In respect of girls and young women, our recent inquiry into youth justice is relevant:we received very little evidence on girls; the limited testimony that was provided suggestedthat the specific needs of girls and young women were neglected in much the same way asthose of women have been. 189 The APPG on women in the penal system conducted a yearlonginvestigation into girls and the penal system which established that they accounted for22 per cent of the young people supervised by youth offending teams and 0.1 per cent ofthe total prison population. 190 The inquiry focused on policy and practice regarding girlsand investigated the decisions that route girls away from or into the criminal justicesystem. It found a lack of gender specific provision for girls and a lack of understandingabout the specific needs of girls in the penal system, which was largely based on the needsof boys. Girls were brought into the penal system because of unaddressed welfare needsincluding neglect, abuse and poverty. 191Mental health93. Baroness Corston found that community mental health services were failing toadequately address the mental health needs of women, highlighting in particular: theabsence of mechanisms to divert women into suitable healthcare on arrest or from court;the shortage of clinicians to assess mental health needs; and a lack of women-onlycommunity day care. 19294. Our witnesses highlighted that there remains a high level of unmet mental health needamongst female offenders, and proposed that there would be greater opportunities fordiversion from the courts and custody if provision of a sufficient quality and quantity wasmade. 193 Magistrates believed that mental health support should be available to all womenoffenders, as the majority of them have mental health issues. 194 The planned proliferationof liaison and diversion schemes at police stations and courts is likely to be particularlybeneficial to women, as they are more likely than male offenders to have a learningdisability or a mental health need. 195 Yet, four years on from the Bradley Report, it remainsthe case that women’s mental health needs are frequently not picked up in the community,but only once they are imprisoned. 196 Women in Prison raised concerns about the level ofgender-specific provision that would be made under diversion and liaison schemes. 19795. At the other end of the spectrum the Lucy Faithfull Foundation noted no discerniblechange in service provision since the introduction of the new strategy for the management189 Justice Committee, Seventh Report of Session 2012–2013, Youth Justice, HC 339190 A member of this Committee, the Rt Hon Elfyn Llwyd MP, was a member of the steering group.191 Ev 114. See also Ev w51.192 The Corston Report, p 11193 Ev w12194 Ev 124195 Ev 114, Q 158 [Ms Lyon], Q 211 [Ms Rijnenberg], See Ev 103 for a description of the service provided at ThamesMagistrates Court which costs £55,000 per year and has contributed to a 40% reduction in women from TowerHamlets being received into HMP Holloway.196 Ev w16, Q 169 [Ms Halford]197 Ev 74