More Lib Dem lunacy

I can't support more relaxed laws around carrying knives and acid though. That actually is crazy.

I actually agree with the policy, which the Scottish government is, I think, moving towards anyway.

I don't agree with men going to women's prisons though.

I think what makes it different for female prisoners is that, as I said, they're more likely to leave behind dependants who need to go into care, and also (I'll need to look this up to get actual details) but I think when you drill down into the causes of crime a lot of female incarceration is the result of male abuse, such as women being unable to pay debts that were racked up by abusive exes who then disappeared. So I imagine there are sex differences. Whether they're significant enough to merit a policy that so radically differentiates between sexes is another matter. And yes, if sex doesn't exist then the whole thing is a bit pointless anyway, but that;s true of literally every policy nowadays.

It really can't be that hard to make it about the crime, rather than gender-specific, can it ? All this does is set the genders against each other, yet again, with an eternal argument of "well, men get this", "oh, but women get that". Something like....

"Lib Dem leader says prison should be reserved only for the most serious, or violent, crimes".

There, job done. Nobody can possibly get their pants in a bunch about any perceived sexism, because everyone gets equal treatment.

it needs to go hand in hand with a conversation about mental health services.

100%

I think quite a big conversation about prison reform needs to happen.

I agree with this but would add that it needs to go hand in hand with a conversation about mental health services.

Right now prisons, courts, police spend a lot of their time picking up the pieces of systemic failures elsewhere.

I shouldn't say 'right now' really as this has been an issue for as long as I can remember but the bottom line is that there are an awful lot of people, women and men, in the prison system who wouldn't be there if other services were properly funded and prioritised.

I strongly agree.

Women serving prison sentences are also more likely to leave behind dependant children who then need to enter the care system, so I do actually think that prison should be a last and worst case resort. For non violent crimes where the offender isn't a danger to the public, I don't think a prison sentence is helpful. I think that's probably true for male offenders as well though tbh. Prison in it's current form clearly doesn't act as a very good deterrent to crime, or as a rehabilitative space, so it's really just a punishment and to get violent offenders off the streets. Plus the over crowding and living conditions are a human rights violation in both estates, so I think quite a big conversation about prison reform needs to happen.

Seems like this would link up well with this thread of carceral/ anti carcerel feminism. The lib dem manifesto is very much in favour of "restorative justice" and has also pledged to house every trans prisoner in the estate matching their identified gender, so from that POV alone getting women out of prison would be a good thing!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3662172-Carceral-Feminism-is-this-a-thing-now

Is this maybe to do with the number of women jailed for things like debt which does nobody any good? I have not read the details yest but surely that would be a good thing?

On the other hand, the idea that women get less jail time for the same crimes as men is a line straight from the MRA play book, so this will definitely play into the hands of misogynists.

Do you have a link? Just had a google but can't see anything.

Tbh the kind of men who take on trans identities after committing a crime, tend to fall into the "most serious and violent crime" category, and there are an awful lot of women who really shouldn't be in prison...