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

78 Women offenders: after the Corston Reportearly intervention for girls in their early teens when problems begin to emerge, forexample, related to being in care, school exclusion, under-age drinking, and violence, andto address inter-generational issues, for example, by reducing the number of mothers goingto prison. 430 Liz Rijnenberg believed that ccommunities need to “own and work with thesewomen and their families.” 431205. The Probation Chiefs’ Association thought that there is now greater awareness that asignificant number of service users with the greatest problems and most complex needsutilise services across a range of national and local government departments; localauthorities were beginning to grasp the financial and intergenerational impact of womenand young girls entering the justice system and in particular the impact ofimprisonment. 432 Accordingly, they saw potential for locally integrated targets. 433Nevertheless, this is not yet sufficiently integrated via the various departments with thework of probation.206. We note the Government’s commitment to expand the Troubled Familiesprogramme. We believe that it should direct support to children whose parents arealready directly involved in the criminal justice system, because they are serving time inprison or sentencing in the community; we were surprised that this is not one of theexplicit criteria for inclusion in the programme. The Ministry of Justice, in conjunctionwith the Advisory Board, must clarify who has responsibility for promoting the needsof women offenders and those at risk of offending with commissioners of mainstreamservices.Addressing the root causes of the vulnerabilities identified by BaronessCorston207. Women in Prison revealed that 79% of their service users report experience ofdomestic violence and/or sexual abuse. 434 Clinks cited recent research that demonstrates adramatic and uneven reduction in local services to prevent and protect violence againstwomen and girls and it is feared that this will result in an increase in such violence. Clinks,among others, considered that it is therefore essential that any approach to women has, atits core, a strategy for responding to these overwhelming levels of violence and abuse. 435208. Similarly, in relation to poverty—another of the vulnerabilities identified by BaronessCorston—VCS organisations identified worrying signs that the economic downturn isimpacting disproportionately on women, with cuts to services that provide assistance withlegal access, benefits and debt advice, housing support and mental health provision in thecommunity. 436430 Q 209 [Ms Rijnenberg, Ms Calderbank, Ms Castell]431 Q 209432 Ev 120433 Ibid.434 Ev 74435 Ev 89. See also Ev w16, Ev 88, Ev w63436 See for example Ev w12, Ev 89, Ev w57, Ev w124