Women's prisons - (on R4 women's hour today )- should they be abolished?

[YummersTheRedNosedReindeer]

and replaced with more suitable community based sentences and custodial facilities where appropriate?

i don't know much about this but i wonder how mnetters would feel if only men went to prison for their crimes? are they so different to us, and does the prison experience affect women in a way which is so much worse to the way it affects men? it seems most female offenders are only offenders because of drugs/ poverty and its usually menial offences.

Some women really need to be incarcerated in a custodial facility.

Women are engaging in increasingly violent crimes and some females pose just as much of a threat to society as males.

True, a greater percentage of female offenders engage in lawbreaking from poverty or drugs, but I think it's as foolish to abolish custodial facilities for women as it is to assume all male offenders are violent and deserve to be locked up.

What an odd suggestion. No, they shouldn't be abolished.

Everyone has an excuse for being in prison. I'm sure drugs and poverty are a major factor for men too. I think probably too many people are sent to prison but women should have no different treatment to men.

How weird! As long as the punishment suits the crime, then the same should be handed out for both sexes.

It is like giving the death penalty for men but not women

not that odd sue when you consider this is a suggestion based on the findings of an extensive report by baroness corston. i reckon she must have her reasons although i can't claim to have a great deal of knowledge about them.

This isn't a gender issue, it is about societal management. The Utopian me says prisons should not exist at all - any divisiveness is separate from gender. I'm sure there is room for discussion on the distinction between crimes committed because of certain circumstances and the appropriate course of action as such. The armed assailant who is drug fuelled versus the same offender who is experiencing dissociation. The shoplifter who steals to fund addiction versus the shoplifter who suffers with dementia. Prison is not helpful to any of the people our society lets down but it does remove unpleasantness for those of us who are alright, Jack.

Of course they shouldn't be closed. When you commit a crime the penalty should be the same, male or female.

I also think its a bit naive to suggest that women only commit crimes because of bad circumstances. There are plenty of anti social, violent women out there

Flame - i agree in principle - punishment should be equal but i think the reason this has been suggested is that apparently women are much, much more likely to suffer severe mental health problems whilst incarcerated, and at a far greater ris of attempting nsuicide particularly when separated from their children.

So more supervision etc is surely needed? You can't not give out the same punishment because they might not handle it very well surely?

People have to accept the consequenses. It is no secret that if you commit a violent act that prison will probably be the result. If someone thinks that being separated from their children would be too much then they shouldn't commit the crime

maybe so - i'm in two minds about the whole thing tbh

The different psychological make-up of women is one of the reasons why specifically female prisons should exist, surely? There should be proper, tailored supervision.

And I agree with privethedge, this suggestion completely misses that prison doesn't exist purely as a method of rehabilitation. There are other factors to consider.