Breaking out of the Justice Loop
This is a blog by our Communications and Campaigns Manager, Keeva Baxter.
Recently Why me? attended the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies’ launch event for their new report, ‘Breaking out of the Justice Loop’. The report examines how the justice system is not designed for women, and consequently isn’t fit to suit their needs.
In 2006, a report was released by Baroness Jean Corston, highlighting some of the key issues faced by women in custody, urging change to be made to forge a “woman-centred approach”. However, twenty years on, what has changed?
During the event we heard from the report’s authors, Liz Hogarth and Naomi Delap about their findings, and how the justice system should be further altered to meet the aims set out in the earlier report, several decades on.
What is the problem?
Liz Hogarth argued that women’s prisons today are much more unsafe for women than they used to be.
The speakers proposed that there are a ‘ridiculous’ number of short custodial sentences being given to women, leading to disruption in their lives where they could lose their job, home, children and relationships they will need to reintegrate on release.
Not only does this cause devastation for the woman themselves, but also for their families. When women are imprisoned, their children are far more likely to go into care than if their father was imprisoned, as more women are primary caregivers, unable to leave their children in the care of another family member. Therefore, more children are left traumatised and displaced when women are put in prison, often for the sake of a short sentence.
We explored what the biggest barrier was for women in prison, ranging from a lack of financial investment, to a punitive political climate, or the sexism and misogyny that leave women as an afterthought. Examples such as an inability to provide shoes in women’s sizes and electronic monitors being ill-fitting on women were given to demonstrate a system designed around men.
What can be done to reduce barriers to recovery for women in the justice system?
Specific interventions to address the problems for justice-involved women are essential. The speakers argued that a holistic, public health approach should be taken to women involved in the justice system, focusing on prevention rather than punishment. They suggested investment in prevention early-on would save money in the long run, but requires commitment from the Government in the first instance. The cost per woman, per year in a women’s centre is estimated to be around £5000 maximum, whereas we know the cost of keeping a woman in prison for a year is between £37,000-£93,000. With sustained and ring-fenced funding, women’s centres could be used to prevent, divert and rehabilitate women, without the need for a prison place. They went on to suggest that we must also reevaluate the use of recall, remand and community sentences, so less women spend time in prison when they could be managed in the community.
Ultimately, more needs to be done to ensure that women involved in the justice system are treated with respect and supported to make a change, and investing money in the right place, rather than just sending women to prison, can help kickstart this movement.