Women in contact with the Criminal Justice System
All the latest Stats Research Policy Best practice
The Truth About Women of Color Behind Bars
Two thirds of women in prisons in the USA are women of color and the situation is getting worse.
The exploding US female prison population
Black women are three times more likely than white women to be sent to prison in the USA
How are Police Commissioners tackling women’s offending?
The multiple needs faced by women in contact with the criminal justice system mean that it is the responsibility of a range of agencies to work together for a more effective approach. PCCs can provide the leadership to ensure a co-ordinated approach to women’s offending.
How many women offenders have children?
You can see that in 2012 10, 120 children were affected by their mothers being sent to prison.
10 things you didn’t know about women’s imprisonment
It is provisionally estimated that the total world prison population has increased by around 20% since 2000, compared with the
approximately 50% increase in the number of imprisoned women and girls.
Why do women get sent to prison?
Quite what so many short sentences (with prisoners spending a maximum of 13 weeks inside) achieve, given the disruption to the lives of women and their children, is very unclear to me.
Effective interventions for women offenders
It is surprising that in 2015, there is almost no British research of sufficient high quality to inform best practice in reducing women’s offending. There is a particular need to develop an effective evidence base around what works in helping women to desist from violent crime.
Preventing the unnecessary criminalisation of women
Far too many women are brought into the justice system unnecessarily. Thousands of women are inappropriately criminalised every year to the detriment of individuals, families and communities. For many women it is their repeated victimisation which has led to involvement in the justice system
Women’s prisons are improving
It is notable that women’s prisons, although facing all the problems of having to operate within a male focused system, have largely succeeded in improving the service they provide when conditions in men’s prisons have deteriorated so far, so quickly.
Coaching behind bars
The prison takes away many choices and coaching give some fundamental ones back, along with hope. Not the blind hope that the whole world will miraculously change, but that they can change themselves and parts of the world around them. Some explicitly choose to become survivors not victims.
Women’s Centres cut reoffending
The official conclusion of the JDL analysis is that: “individuals who received support provided by Women’s Centres throughout England experienced a reduction in re‐ offending of between 1 and 9 percentage points.” This is a very positive finding and it is to be hoped that the JDL repeats this analysis in the near future with a much bigger cohort and more sophisticated matching method.
What next for justice?
Guest bloggers came from a wide range of viewpoints including several organisations with a particular criminal justice focus including prison reform, employment for women offenders, restorative justice etc. This, thankfully, made for very different priorities with limited repetition. Nevertheless, four key themes emerged from this spectrum of views.
