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26 Nov 2007
Public say: stop locking up so many women!
Most people do not agree with sending women to prison for non-violent offences. Instead they back the findings of an independent review of women in the criminal justice system currently being considered by ministers, according to a report published today by SmartJustice.
With the number of women in prison having almost tripled in the past ten years, the SmartJustice report shows overwhelming public support for a fundamental change in how most women who offend are treated, with nine out of ten people supporting alternatives to prison for non-violent offenders.
The report comes just days before Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, is expected to publish his response to the government commissioned Corston Review, led by Baroness Jean Corston, which recommended establishment of smaller multi-functional community centres for female offenders.
SmartJustice for Women is supported by a broad alliance of public groups including the National Council of Women (with 50 affiliates), the Greater London Domestic Violence Project, Soroptomists International, and the Oxfordshire Federation of Women’s Institutes. These groups are calling on the government to implement the recommendations of the Corston Report.
The main findings of this unique UK wide survey, with over 1000 respondents and conducted by ICM are:
Almost nine out of ten (86%) support community alternatives
to prison – for example, centres where women are sent to address
the causes of their crimes whilst also having to do compulsory work in
the community;
almost three quarters (73%) do not think mothers,
particularly those of young children, who commit non violent crime should
be locked up;
over two in three (67%) say prison was not likely to
reduce offending;
The majority (77%) also think it would be more effective
for female drug addicts who commit non violent crimes like shoplifting
to undergo drug rehabilitation treatment as well as doing compulsory work
rather than being sent to jail.
Key recommendations are:
Community solutions for non-violent women who offend
should be the norm;
To reduce crime it is essential to address the reasons
that lead to women’s offending, including debt, domestic violence
and addiction;
Female offenders should have local, community based
services, close to their families.
SmartJustice Director Lucie Russell said:
“Locking up women who are vulnerable and desperate does nothing to cut crime. If we are serious about reducing women’s offending we need to tackle the reasons they are committing crimes in the first place. The solutions lie in drug treatment, mental health care, jobs, housing and compulsory work in the community to payback for what they have done rather than putting them behind bars.”
She continued:
“We are awaiting the government’s response to the Corston review, If the Minister for Justice had any hesitation that the public would not be behind sending fewer women to prison this survey will put him right. The results of this poll should give the go ahead to cut back on women’s imprisonment, in favour of more effective alternatives which would make communities safer and do less harm to vulnerable women and their children”.
Actress and celebrity supporter Michelle Collins said;
“Our prisons are overflowing with women who are mentally ill, drug addicts and victims of domestic violence and child abuse. Locking these women up doesn’t stop them offending and it’s very expensive. Its time the Government took some action and invested in tackling the causes of women’s crimes”
Monica Hall, President of the National Council of Women of Great Britain said:
“The National Council of Women wholeheartedly supports the Corston Review and urges HM Government to implement its findings with all possible speed. We have adopted a resolution which calls for more resources to address the root causes of women’s offending and more investment in finding better alternatives to prison, which would benefit both the offender and the community.”
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For more information or to arrange interviews, including with members
of the alliance and with those who have experienced imprisonment,
please contact:
Lucie Russell: 0207 689 7734 or 07931 507873 or Sinead Hanks: 07931 380952
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Notes to Editors
1. The report is based on UK wide ICM survey, interviewed a random sample of 1006 adults aged 18+ by telephone across the UK between 9th – 11th February 2007. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information at www.icmresearch.co.uk.
2. Copies of the full SmartJustice survey on women and offending can be obtained from Sinead Hanks at sinead.hanks@smartjustice.org Tel 0207 689 7734
3. SmartJustice for Women is a campaign run by SmartJustice which is based at the Prison Reform Trust. SmartJustice promotes community based solutions to crime. It is funded by the Network for Social Change and the Big Lottery Fund
4. SmartJustice for Women was launched at HMP Holloway in July 2005. Supporters include Michelle Collins, Sheila Hancock and Clare Rayner. The SmartJustice for Women EDM attracted 87 MP signatures. It believes that the best way to reduce women’s offending is by tackling its causes-by improving mental health services, tackling drug abuse and through community punishments.
5. Following the tragic death of six women at Styal prison, the Home Secretary asked Baroness Jean Corston to conduct a review of vulnerable women in the Criminal Justice System. Throughout 2006 Baroness Corston and her team visited overcrowded women’s jails, local women’s centres and alternatives to custody for women across the UK. The review was published In March and the Government response is expected shortly.
6. Key facts about women and prison:
· There were 4,454 women in prison on 16th November 2007 compared with 1,811 in 1994.
· Most of the rise in the female prison population can be explained by magistrates and judges handing out harsher sentences. A woman is seven times as likely to receive a custodial sentence in a magistrate’s court than ten years ago.
· Eight in ten women are jailed for non-violent crimes. In 2004 more women were sent to prison for theft and handling stolen goods than any other crime.
· Two in three women released from prison in 2002 were reconvicted within two years of release, rising to eight out of ten for female shoplifters.
The majority of women are in prison for very short sentences. In 2004
nearly two in three were sentenced to custody for six months or less.
· Around one in three women prisoners lose their homes, and often their possessions, whilst in prison. 41% do not have accommodation organised on release.
· Over a third of all adult women in prison had no previous convictions
· Nearly 1 in 3 women prisoners are from minority ethnic groups
· 2/3 of women prisoners have a drug problem, 2/3 have mental health problems and half have been victims of domestic violence
· Nearly 18,000 children are separated from their mothers by imprisonment each year and only 5% remain in the family home
.