Close Women's Prisons

[cupcaske123]

Prison is not a safe place for women. Some 48% have committed an offence in order to support someone else’s drug habit, which makes sense when you realise 70% of female offenders have experienced domestic abuse and over half have experienced abuse as children. They are largely incarcerated for petty crimes – women are far more likely to be criminalised than men if, for instance, their children refuse to go to school. Most are serving less than six months, often for shoplifting (women being disproportionately affected by the cost-of-living crisis), but however much time they get, their lives and those of their children are inevitably derailed for ever.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/28/womens-prisons-have-served-their-time-they-should-be-abolished

I certainly think prisons should be therapeutic for the vast majority of female prisoners and a chance to re-set their lives (with their children) and to get out of a succession of abuse. But close- no.

There are small, but not zero numbers of women who do need to spend time in prison. Out with the notorious, there are women who have caused death by dangerous driving; fraud; and there does need to be a space for the likes of Paula Vennel.

While I agree that dangerous women like Rose West need to be locked up, the article cites an interesting proposition. That of female centred one stop shops which offer advice and support to women with issues such as addiction and abuse, which can prevent them from becoming embroiled in the criminal justice system.

No, I don't agree that there shouldn't be custodial sentences for some crimes just because you're female.

Can you imagine? The blokes are protesting now about fuck all, there'd be absolute carnage if they thought women were getting a better deal than them on all the crimes they like to commit.

I worked in women's prisons for many years. I never encountered a woman in prison for not sending her children to school. Those that were in for shoplifting had an extensive history of breaching non-custodial sentences. Most women were far and away more sinned against than sinning, traumatic childhoods, abusive relationships etc. They needed, and many but not enough received, intensive support.

The case has been made before and Scotland has opened at least one facility based on the idea that most women in prison don't need to be there, last I heard they were struggling to find enough women that fitted the profile to fill it.

I saw a documentary on women's prisons a while ago and what struck me was the sheer amount of women with mental health problems. There was a lot of self harm.