£24m to tackle root causes of female offending

It follows a recent report by the Justice Committee that warned limited progress has been made in developing alternatives to custodial sentences for women amid concerns that the female prison population may rise by a third in the next three years.

With more than 60 per cent of women in prison having experienced domestic abuse and 50 per cent having drug addictions, almost £21 million will be invested in women’s services to tackle the causes of female offending and cut crime.

A further £3.6 million will be allocated to help local services, such as mental health support and drug experts, work more closely to support female offenders. This will include funding local coordinator roles, who would help to bring government and third sector organisations together to provide a better service.

Without specialist support in the community, statistics show that half of women who have been in prison will go on to reoffend, contributing towards the £18 billion cost of reoffending to the taxpayer, said the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

This tailored support from organisations such as Working Chance, the UK’s only charity dedicated to getting women with convictions into work, can range from help to find a job or support with drug and alcohol abuse, and can provide stability in getting their lives back on track.

There are also plans to pilot a new problem-solving court targeted at women with complex needs, including drug and alcohol abuse.

Prisons Minister Stuart Andrew said: “Female offenders are often driven into crime by poor mental health, drug addiction or abuse.

“This investment will make sure we support women facing these problems away from crime and into the help they need to get their lives back on track.”

Tackling the root causes of female offending and providing vulnerable women with early support is a key part of the Government’s Female Offender Strategy, with many women who commit low-level crimes being driven by underlying factors such as substance abuse, trauma or difficulty in getting a job.

The Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) says at least 57 per cent of women in prison and under community supervision are victims of domestic abuse, often unfairly criminalised for offences resulting directly from their experiences.

In its recent report, No safe space, insights from those with first-hand experience of the criminal justice process made clear that wide-ranging reforms were needed to end the unjust criminalisation of victims of domestic abuse (see https://www.policeprofessional.com/feature/no-safe-space/).

Katy Swaine Williams, the report author and criminalisation project lead at the CWJ, said: ‘This funding and the new women’s problem-solving court are welcome, but they don’t go far enough.

“Preventing the Government’s predicted rise in women’s imprisonment requires greater investment in vital women’s community services, including early intervention, and practical help to introduce effective police diversion and problem-solving courts in every local area.

“The majority of women in prison and under probation in the community are victims of domestic abuse.

“Our recent  research has shown that, as well as investing in services, the Government also needs to implement reforms in law and practice to ensure that victims of domestic abuse are protected, not punished.”

A briefing published last month by the Prison Reform Trust found that 50 per cent of prison sentences given to women in 2021 were for six months or less.

And in the year to March 2022 there were 1,513 recalls of women to custody, with women serving sentences of less than 12 months accounting for just under half (44 per cent) of all recalls.

Less than half (47 per cent) of women left prison in the year to March 2022 with settled accommodation.

While women who commit the most serious crimes will always be sent to prison, custody should always be a last resort, said the MoJ. On top of the £24 million funding, the Government is also piloting a £10 million residential women’s centre in Swansea, to reduce the number of women sent to prison.

Female offenders at the centre will receive one-to-one mental health therapy and counselling to address their trauma from previous abuse and support to overcome substance misuse.

Female offenders sentenced at the planned problem-solving court will see the same judge or bench of magistrates for regular reviews, receive intensive support and supervision from the Probation Service and have access to services for drug and alcohol abuse, and support with housing, training and employment.

Since 2018, almost £55 million has been invested to support female offenders. New specialist staff have been recruited to support pregnant women and mothers in prison, and charities and community organisations have also received funding to keep services running.