Thanks for the link Errol
I agree, its relevent and also important subject for discussion
(extract)
"Britain’s record on incarcerating women has been a national scandal for decades. In the vast majority of cases it has been pointless, enormously expensive and wildly destructive, reinforcing a cycle of damaged people and broken homes that affects not just the women, but their children, families and the society that bears the subsequent costs. Now, after more than four decades of compelling critical reports on the issue, and years of earnest statements of goodwill from assorted politicians, David Gauke, the justice secretary, is at last unrolling a serious, comprehensive strategy to keep non-violent offenders out of jail.
What we do to vulnerable women now is as barbaric as the debtors’ prisons of Dickens’ time. They make up only 5 per cent of all prisoners, and they don’t have the same profile as men. They are far less dangerous, and much more likely to have committed crimes to support others. More than 80 per cent have been convicted of non-violent offences, compared with 70 per cent of men. Two fifths of mothers report offending to support their children, and half report offending to support someone else’s drug use, compared with a fifth of men.
They are also even more likely to be victims themselves. More than half were abused as children, twice the proportion of men; half are victims of domestic violence. They have much higher rates of drug addiction and mental illness. Five times as many women as men self-harm while in jail." (continues)