Did you know that nearly a third of women’s convictions are for TV licence fee evasion?

Did you read any of the links about the number of women v men prosecuted for non payment of tv licence, and the reasons why?

If you have a look at the links then I'm happy to discuss.

Women used to be sent to prison for non payment of the TV licence, the govt put a stop to that quite recently. It was costing the taxpayer thousands of pounds every week to pay for the incarceration of women, and putting their children into care.

They were still being sent to prison in 2015;
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4130060/More-women-men-jailed-TV-licenses.html

There were plans to decriminalise in 2020
www.thesun.co.uk/news/12786183/bbc-licence-fee-evaders-no-longer-face-prison/

@NiceGerbil

The stats around women being prosecuted etc etc are still appalling.
The fact that women are being indirectly discriminated against ( not sure that's the right term!) is shocking.

What a strange way to look at crime statistics. Far more men are prosecuted and convicted of violent crimes than women, do we say that is “indirect discrimination” because there are mythical women out there just getting away with murder? No. We talk about how male violence is a societal evil blight. But oh, more women being prosecuted for TV license evasions and suddenly there is “indirect discrimination” going on with (presumably) untold numbers of men getting away with free TV?

Right, I know some women on her, with very good reason, do not like blokes like myself posting. However, my DW and I have been licence free since last year.
It is a disgusting situation where women are being targeted for licence evasion.
There are a few good rules to adhere to.
Do not watch live TV. You can watch catchup, TV Discovery+, you can listen to any radio on you TV. You can watch Youtube videos online.
They are complete and utter bastards with regard to putting women in prison for these so called "offences", it make me livid with rage.
Remember the expenses scandal back in the day when Labour were in charge - Jacqie Smith, Home Secretary at the time, wasn't even considered for prosecution , despite fiddling hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Please look at these links.

Sockmonster thanks for the link.

I would encourage everyone to read it- the intro and summary are not long and it's an easy and quick read with some really interesting info.

Forgot to add some years ago there was a lot of pressure about the number of women sent to prison for shop lifting, when quite often is was to help feed their children. Not sure what became of that.

The whole issue about women going to prison for short sentences because they are mainly found guilty of lesser crimes has been discussed for year (decades?) and nothing changes.

There was a strong response to the Government saying they proposed to build 500 more places for women to be imprisoned in a joint letter from a number of women's groups. Quit recent so I am sure if you googled you would find it.

And also this recently published www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/PressPolicy/News/vw/1/ItemID/1011

But by chance have seen this (oh dear not another consultation)
Women in prison inquiry launched
committees.parliament.uk/committee/102/justice-committee/news/154843/women-in-prison-inquiry-launched/

[quote PlanDeRaccordement]Looked it up, says here that maximum sentence for TV license evasion is a band B fine. None of the women in prison are there over TV license....
www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-court/item/tv-licence-payment-evasion-revised-2017/[/quote]
@PlanDeRaccordement What if they can't pay or refuse to pay the fine?

The Howard League was campaigning about ending all prison sentences for debt (hear hear) but I don't know the latest.

It's insane that this archaic punishment still exists. Expensive, life-destroying and utterly pointless. Prison is no deterrence to poverty.

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/women-and-the-criminal-justice-system-2019/women-and-the-criminal-justice-system-2019

An interesting and very accessible report from the ONS.

Not sure any more.

I think they realised it was a really bad look.

If they can't pay the fine can they end up in prison?

Makes sense.

2018 so not long ago. Glad this has stopped.

'"The number of women imprisoned in England and Wales in 2018 was four, a 50% reduction from the previous year’s eight women'.

www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2019/07/237240/tv-licence-evasion-women

The stats around women being prosecuted etc etc are still appalling.

The fact that women are being indirectly discriminated against ( not sure that's the right term!) is shocking.

Apologies as well- they certainly used to so glad that's stopped.

'Almost a third of women’s convictions are for not paying the TV licence fee, figures have revealed.'

That's awful though.

It's also inflating crime stats around men Vs women convicted of offences iyswim

Thank you for clarifying that PlanDeRaccordement. I wonder if that article was written to deliberately mislead?

Looked it up, says here that maximum sentence for TV license evasion is a band B fine. None of the women in prison are there over TV license....
www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-court/item/tv-licence-payment-evasion-revised-2017/

I thought that no custodial (prison) time is actually sentenced for TV license evasion? Isn’t it all community service, suspended sentence or fines?

I’ve known about the terrible consequences of not paying the TV licence fee because it is a criminal offence for a while but I hadn’t realised it was so prevalent in the female prison population.

The article doesn't say that women have been imprisoned for failing to pay their TV license, it says non payment of TV license accounts for 30% of women's criminal convictions. I would imagine the vast majority, if not all, of these end up with a fine. There isn't enough detail in the article to tell one way or another.

Another one who thought it had been decriminalised. Or at least that it was definitely going to be, not that it had been shelved.