Community solutions better than prison for women offenders (11/7/07)

A report published today by the Fawcett Society shows that more woman-only, community-based centres should be used for women offenders, in place of prison.

The report gives the Government clear guidance on how to take forward recommendations contained in a recent Home Office review of vulnerable women in the criminal justice system by Baroness Corston. The review advocated a greater use of community sentences for women offenders and the use of community-based centres designed specifically to meet women’s needs. Today’s report provides the evidence that the new Ministry of Justice needs to develop these centres.

The report, by academics Loraine Gelsthorpe and Gilly Sharpe and consultant Jenny Roberts, reveals the need for more community support to be available for women offenders. The report finds that holistic, empowering, woman-only community-based provision is the most effective approach for many women offenders, and advocates a move away from traditional community sentences which are based on the needs of men. This approach can replace futile stays in prison with effective community punishments, reduce women’s reoffending and allow offenders’ children to stay with their mothers.

The report also shows that in many areas services that could be used for women offenders are already available, run by voluntary sector organisations. However, many of these services, which could provide alternatives to prison for non-violent offenders and therefore reduce the prison population, are at risk of closing due to a lack of funding, and the report urges commissioners in the National Offender Management Service to make better use of them. It emphasises that centres, which must be flexible to meet the complex problems faced by women offenders, should be women-only and should integrate women offenders with non-offenders in providing services.

Commenting on today’s report, Baroness Jean Corston, Chair of the Fawcett Society’s Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice System, said:
'For too long the sentencing of women offenders has ignored their needs and experiences. My recent review of vulnerable women in the criminal justice system for the Home Office highlighted the need for a greater use of holistic community centres to better meet the needs of women offenders. More community centres must be made available and this report is an important step forward in identifying how these centres can be developed and towards realising the changes set out in my review.’

Jon Collins, Senior Policy Officer at the Fawcett Society, added:
'Women who offend have specific needs which are not being met in a prison system designed for men. Nearly two-thirds of women in prison have a drug problem, the majority have experienced domestic violence or sexual abuse and at least 70% have mental health problems. Most women in prison have children and more than 17,700 children a year are separated from their mothers by imprisonment. This report shows how community services designed specifically for female offenders can better meet the needs of women and their families, reducing reoffending and benefiting wider society.’

Loraine Gelsthorpe, from the University of Cambridge, added:
‘This report will be an invaluable tool for commissioners of services for women offenders. Containing up-to-date evidence on women’s needs, models of good practice and a commissioning checklist, the report will enable commissioners to identify the available services that best meet the needs of women offenders.’

Copies of the report can be downloaded from the right-hand side of the page.

Notes to Editors

[1] The report, Provision for women offenders in the community, is being launched in London on Wednesday 11 July. Speakers at the launch will include Baroness Jean Corston, Dr Katherine Rake (Director of the Fawcett Society), Dr Loraine Gelsthorpe (from the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge) and Julie Taylor (Director of Commissioning and Partnerships for the National Offender Management Service).

[2] Baroness Corston’s independent review of women with particular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system for the Home Office resulted in the Corston Report.

[3] Dr Loraine Gelsthorpe and Gilly Sharpe are based at the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge. Jenny Roberts is a former Chief Probation Officer (Hereford and Worcester) and an Independent Consultant.

[4] The Fawcett Society launched the Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice System in 2002 to examine women’s experiences of the criminal justice system.