We aim to highlight the huge cost to society resulting from the unnecessary imprisonment of women, and the urgent need to invest in better community alternatives, through a new SmartJustice for Women campaign.  We will do this by presenting powerful firsthand accounts from women who have been through the system, as well as police, magistrates, prison governors and those working with women in prison and in the community.

We have released a new film to introduce the plans for the campaign, and a number of short audio clips by women with experience of the system.  More films and firsthand audio accounts will be posted here in the weeks to come.  Followed by evaluations and evidence of outcomes achieved by women's centres and community sentences for women. Also on this page, you will be able to find key research, facts and figures and the latest news. 

Please let us know what you think

What price women’s justice? We need your help

‘I looked forward to letters from her because she would kiss the letters and it would smell of her’

Laetitia was 8 years old when her mother was sentenced to custody.  She told schoolfriends she was away working – a lie she says was hard to live with.  She remembers moving from hostel to hostel with her carer in the weeks after the arrest.  Laetitia is now reunited with her mother, but the trauma of separation remains vivid.  Her experience is all too common - an estimated 17,700 children are separated from their mothers by imprisonment each year, with just 5% being able to remain in their own homes while their mums are inside.

Too many vulnerable women are unnecessarily sent to the UK’s prisons for non-violent offences, while local women’s centres – which have had better results in reducing offending – face an uncertain future. We are calling on our supporters to help put this right.
Click here for more information and to email your MP

On 2 September 2011 there were 4,255 women in prison in England and Wales.  In the course of a year over 11,000 women will be received into custody.  Many are remanded by the courts, often for mental health assessments, or serving short sentences for non-violent crimes.

While a small number of women have committed such serious and violent offences that they must serve a custodial penalty, most women behind bars in Great Britain are petty, persistent offenders.  Around a third are serving time for theft and handling stolen goods.  In 2009 nearly two thirds of all women sentenced to custody were serving sentences of six months or less.  Many have been victims of serious crime and sustained abuse.  More than half of all women prisoners have suffered violence at home. One in three has experienced sexual abuse.  A quarter has been in local authority care.  Women, who make up only 5% of the prison population, account for almost half the incidents of serious self harm in custody.

Forming such a small proportion of the overall prison numbers, women are too often ignored.  However, the particular needs and characteristics of women who get in trouble with the law – and the different consequences of women’s imprisonment – mean that they merit separate consideration.

Reforming women’s justice would lead to many fewer women being sent to prison, and much greater use of community solutions to address their offending.  A wealth of research over the last 10 years has found that community solutions are usually more successful than prison when it comes to reducing women’s offending, and that community sentencing should be the norm for women convicted of non-violent offences. 

Women’s centres are an important part of the solution.  They run programmes for women that they may be required to complete by the courts as part of a community sentence.  For many women these centres offer their first real opportunity to beat drugs, drink, mental illness and crime, get out of debt, escape domestic violence, find safe housing, gain employment and look after their children.  However, many centres face an uncertain financial future.

The economic – let alone social – benefits of community solutions are indisputable.  The cost of a woman’s prison place is higher than a man’s at an average of £50,444 per annum. By contrast, an intensive community order could cost £10,000-£15,000.  The Government’s own research has shown community sentences to be more effective than short prison terms in reducing reoffending. There is public support too. An ICM opinion poll commissioned by the Prison Reform Trust found that, of over 1,000 respondents, 86% supported the development of local centres for women to address the causes of their offending.  The National Council of Women recently passed a unanimous resolution calling on the Government to introduce a rigorous strategy to reform women’s justice, prioritising community solutions. 

What is needed now is not more research – we largely know where the answers lie - but strong, strategic leadership and commitment at national and local level to identify and overcome the barriers to reform.  A cross-departmental government strategy is needed to divert women from crime and reduce the women’s prison population, including measures of success and a clear monitoring framework.  Without this, the imagination and drive that is found in pockets of good practice around the country will always risk running into the sand, and will never be replicated nationwide.

We can learn lessons from the recent reduction in child custody and youth crime, which saw the numbers of children in prison fall by a third from 2008 to 2011.  The Prison Reform Trust, supported by the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, has contributed to this success story. The same results can be achieved for women in trouble.

Women were not mentioned at all in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill when it was introduced in Parliament this summer.  This was a missed opportunity to drive forward the implementation of measures that we know would help many women get on the right track, enabling them to take responsibility for their lives and families, strengthening communities and ensuring existing local provision is sustained.

There is still time to put matters right. The Prison Reform Trust is working with others to make sure the Bill is amended to require a national strategy to reduce women’s offending and to stop sending so many women to prison, together with an annual report to Parliament.  Even without new legislation, reform of women’s justice can be achieved by proper leadership and sensible use of existing resources.

You can help by writing to your MP to show your support.  Click here to take action now

KEY FACTS

• In 2009, over 11,000 women were sent to prison in England and Wales

• In the last decade the women’s prison population has gone up by 33%. There are currently 4,267 women in prison.

• Almost two-thirds of women are in prison for non-violent offences

• One in four women in prison were in local authority care as a child.

• Over half the women in prison have suffered domestic violence and one in three has experienced sexual abuse.

• This increased prison population has not increased public safety. 54% of women leaving prison are re-convicted within one year. For women who have served more than 10 previous custodial sentences the reoffending rate rises to 90%.

• 66% of women in prison have dependent children under 18. Each year it is estimated that more than 17,700 children are separated from their mother by imprisonment. 

Many women in prison are affected by mental health problems, drug and alcohol addictions and domestic violence, and many have spent time in care.  Most are serving short sentences for non-violent offences.  Sending these women to prison is often unnecessary and ineffective in reducing reoffending, and carries a huge cost to women, children and wider society.  

Now is a time of great opportunity for reform.  There is a broad consensus that community solutions, tailored to women’s needs, are generally more effective than prison in reducing women’s offending and minimising the cost to society.  And yet there is currently no clear government strategy to end the unnecessary imprisonment of women, and many community services face an uncertain financial future.