Tuesday 6 March 2007

Public say: Stop sending women to prison

A unique, UK wide ICM survey for SmartJustice shows that most people do not agree with sending women to prison for non-violent offences.

This is the first time the public have been asked how to reduce crime committed by women. 

The poll, published exclusively in Best magazine, showed that over two in three (67%) said prison was not likely to reduce offending and almost three quarters (73%) did not think mothers of young children who commit non violent crime should be locked up. 

Instead there was overwhelming support (86%) for community alternatives to prison – for example, centres where women are sent to address the causes of their crimes whilst also having to do compulsory work in the community.  

The majority (77%) also thought it would be more effective for female drug addicts who commit non violent crimes like shoplifting to undergo drug rehabilitation treatment as well as doing compulsory work rather than being sent to jail.  

SmartJustice Director Lucie Russell said: 

“Locking up women who are vulnerable and desperate does nothing to cut crime. If we are serious about reducing women’s offending we need to tackle the reasons they are committing crimes in the first place. The solutions lie in drug treatment, mental health care, jobs, housing and compulsory work in the community to payback for what they have done rather than putting them behind bars” 

She continued: 

“The Government has commissioned a review on women in the criminal justice system. Baroness Corston’s report and recommendations are expected to be published very soon. If the Home Secretary had any hesitation that the public would not be behind sending fewer women to prison this survey will put him right.  The results of this poll should give the go ahead to cut back on women’s imprisonment, in favour of more effective alternatives which would make communities safer and do less harm to vulnerable women and their children”.   

 Actress and celebrity supporter Michelle Collins said: 

“Our prisons are overflowing with women who are mentally ill, drug addicts and victims of domestic violence and child abuse. Locking these women up doesn’t stop them offending and it’s very expensive. It's time the government took some action and invested in tackling the causes of women’s crimes” 

You can see the full survey at http://www.smartjustice.org/pr6mar07.html

For more information, case histories or to arrange interviews please contact:
Lucie Russell: 0207 689 7734 or 07931 507873 or Sinead Hanks: 07931 380952

http://www.smartjustice.org/indexwomen.html

Notes

1. ICM interviewed a random sample of 1006 adults aged 18+ by telephone across the UK between 9th – 11th February 2007. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information at www.icmresearch.co.uk.

2. For full results see http://www.smartjustice.org/pr6mar07.html and attached summary and feature in this week’s Best magazine with an interview with Michelle Collins.

3. Following the tragic death of six women at Styal prison, the Home Secretary asked Baroness Jean Corston to conduct a review of vulnerable women in the criminal justice system.  Throughout 2006 Baroness Corston and her team visited overcrowded women’s jails, local women’s centres and alternatives to custody for women across the UK. The review is now complete, due to be published soon and the government response is expected to follow shortly

4. SmartJustice for Women is a campaign run by SmartJustice which is based at the Prison Reform Trust. SmartJustice promotes community based solutions to crime. It is funded by the Network for Social Change and  the Big Lottery Fund

5. SmartJustice for Women was launched at HMP Holloway in July 2005. Supporters include Michelle Collins, Sheila Hancock and Clare Rayner. The SmartJustice for Women EDM attracted 87 MP signatures.

SmartJustice for women believes that the best way to reduce women’s offending is by tackling its causes-by improving mental health services, tackling drug abuse and through community punishments.

Key facts about women and prison:

·  There were 4,334 women in prison on 23 Feb 2007 compared with 1,811 in   1994.

· Most of the rise in the female prison population can be explained by magistrates and judges handing out harsher sentences. A woman is seven times as likely to receive a custodial sentence in a magistrate’s court than ten years ago.

· Eight in ten women are jailed for non-violent crimes. In 2004 more women were sent to prison for theft and handling stolen goods than any other crime.

· Two in three women released from prison in 2002 were reconvicted within two years of release, rising to eight out of ten for female shoplifters.

· The majority of women are in prison for very short sentences. In 2004 nearly two in three were sentenced to custody for six months or less. This means that staff have little opportunity to deliver programmes that can address the reasons that women are offending in the first place.

· Around one in three women prisoners lose their homes, and often their possessions, whilst in prison.41% do not have accommodation organised on release.

· Over a third of all adult women in prison had no previous convictions

· 2/3 of women prisoners have a drug problem, 2/3 have mental health problems and half have been victims of domestic violence

· Nearly 18,000 children are separated from their mothers by imprisonment each year and only 5% remain in the family home

· Nearly 1 in 3 women prisoners are from minority ethnic groups