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What is SmartJustice for Women?
Abused, addicted, mentally ill. Is prison really the best place for these women?
SmartJustice believes that locking up women who are non-violent offenders does little to reduce their offending behaviour.
SmartJustice for Women is campaigning for more alternatives to prison and community projects that tackle the causes of women´s offending like domestic violence, mental health problems and drug and alcohol addiction. See our Facts section for more information about women in prison.
Find out how you can Get Involved in this campaign.
In 2005 Vera Baird MP tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) supporting the aims of SmartJustice for Women. Click here to read the EDM.
The Government recently announced a review into treatment of women in the criminal justice system, to be headed by Baroness Corston (previously the MP Jean Corston).
The Corston review was published on 13th March 2007.
This was our response:-
No more women's prisons
Momentum to reduce the numbers of vulnerable women in prison has been building, following on from the publication of the Smart Justice poll on Women in Prison that appeared in Best Magazine and the Daily Mirror this month (March 2007).
The Home Office review carried out by Baroness Corston into the way women offenders are treated by the criminal justice system, was published this week, and the results were very heartening for SmartJustice. The review was prompted by concerns at the self-inflicted deaths of six women at Styal prison in Cheshire between August 2002 and 2003, and together with inputs from a number of different charities working in the field, Baroness Corston has come up with the suggestion of a radical 10-year reform programme to close down existing women's prisons and replace them with small secure units closer to women's homes and families.
Baroness Corston also recommended a big reduction in the overall number of women who are sent to jail, and a new framework for community punishments as an alternative.
SmartJustice Director, Lucie Russell, welcomed the report and commented:-
"At last - hope for women convicted of non-violent offences in our jails. This report outlines major changes to the way we deal with these women - who are not evil, violent offenders - just damaged, often by drugs, alcohol, domestic violence and child abuse. Prison for them is just an expensive way of making their offending worse. Eight out of ten female shoplifters are reconvicted within two years of release and 18,000 children are separated from their mothers by imprisonment each year - simply creating potential generations of future offenders".
"The government must act on the recommendations of this report - there is a groundswell of support for change. Our recent public opinion survey on women in prison conducted by ICM showed that over two in three (67%) said prison was not likely to reduce offending and there was overwhelming support (86%) for 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. And womens' organizations around the country including the National Council of Women, the Soroptomists and the Catholic Womens League are actively campaigning for more resources in the community to address the root causes of women's offending and investment in more alternatives to prison that reduce women's offending behaviour and prevent further victims".
Abused, addicted, mentally ill. Is prison really the best place for these women?
SmartJustice believes that locking up women who are non-violent offenders does little to reduce their offending behaviour.
SmartJustice for Women is campaigning for more alternatives to prison and community projects that tackle the causes of women´s offending like domestic violence, mental health problems and drug and alcohol addiction. See our Facts section for more information about women in prison.
Find out how you can Get Involved in this campaign.
In 2005 Vera Baird MP tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) supporting the aims of SmartJustice for Women. Click here to read the EDM.
The Government recently announced a review into treatment of women in the criminal justice system, to be headed by Baroness Corston (previously the MP Jean Corston).
The Corston review was published on 13th March 2007.
This was our response:-
No more women's prisons
Momentum to reduce the numbers of vulnerable women in prison has been building, following on from the publication of the Smart Justice poll on Women in Prison that appeared in Best Magazine and the Daily Mirror this month (March 2007).
The Home Office review carried out by Baroness Corston into the way women offenders are treated by the criminal justice system, was published this week, and the results were very heartening for SmartJustice. The review was prompted by concerns at the self-inflicted deaths of six women at Styal prison in Cheshire between August 2002 and 2003, and together with inputs from a number of different charities working in the field, Baroness Corston has come up with the suggestion of a radical 10-year reform programme to close down existing women's prisons and replace them with small secure units closer to women's homes and families.
Baroness Corston also recommended a big reduction in the overall number of women who are sent to jail, and a new framework for community punishments as an alternative.
SmartJustice Director, Lucie Russell, welcomed the report and commented:-
"At last - hope for women convicted of non-violent offences in our jails. This report outlines major changes to the way we deal with these women - who are not evil, violent offenders - just damaged, often by drugs, alcohol, domestic violence and child abuse. Prison for them is just an expensive way of making their offending worse. Eight out of ten female shoplifters are reconvicted within two years of release and 18,000 children are separated from their mothers by imprisonment each year - simply creating potential generations of future offenders".
"The government must act on the recommendations of this report - there is a groundswell of support for change. Our recent public opinion survey on women in prison conducted by ICM showed that over two in three (67%) said prison was not likely to reduce offending and there was overwhelming support (86%) for 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. And womens' organizations around the country including the National Council of Women, the Soroptomists and the Catholic Womens League are actively campaigning for more resources in the community to address the root causes of women's offending and investment in more alternatives to prison that reduce women's offending behaviour and prevent further victims".
