Prison is a disaster for women – here's what could work instead

The first days of the new Labour government have given advocates of prison reform cause for hope. Two announcements – the appointment of James Timpson as Prisons Minister and an expanded early release programme – are promising steps towards repairing a criminal justice system devastated by cuts and neglect.

The biggest problem is prison overcrowding. There are currently more than 87,000 people incarcerated, far exceeding the Ministry of Justice's capacity to “safely and appropriately” house 79,695 prisoners. England and Wales has one of the highest incarceration rates in Western Europe, almost twice as high as Germany.

Around 4% of the prison population in England and Wales is female, and in 2020, 72% of female prison admissions were for non-violent crimes. As someone who studies women's prisons, I hope that plans for change include an overhaul of the way we punish and rehabilitate women.

Timpson has said that prisons, especially for women, are a “disaster”. He correctly observed that prisons often lead women back into the cycle of crime. Women released from prison are more likely to reoffend and more likely to do so than women serving a suspended sentence.

Women often experience a revolving door of short prison sentences – too short to pursue meaningful education, training or employment opportunities. In 2017, 77% of women's sentences were 12 months or less, and after such short sentences, the recidivism rate was 71%.

Women in prison face complex and serious challenges. They are disproportionately affected by self-harm, 29% of all cases (despite making up less than 5% of the prison population). Many are mothers and primary carers, impacting an estimated 17,000 children each year.

Another serious problem is violence in women's prisons. In the 12 months to June 2023, there were 469 incidents per 1,000 prisoners. The number of assaults is more than three and a half times higher than ten years ago and significantly higher than in men's prisons. This increase in violence is often linked to mental health problems and substance abuse, which are exacerbated by overcrowding.

More than half of incarcerated women have experienced severe trauma, including domestic violence and child abuse. Women in the justice system need tailored support systems that provide trauma-informed care, mental health services, and community-based support.

The 2007 Corston Report was commissioned in response to the deaths of six women in HMP Styal between August 2002 and August 2003. It made 43 recommendations to improve the treatment of vulnerable women in the criminal justice system. The Government accepted 41 of these recommendations at the time, including limiting prison sentences to serious crimes and improving health and support services.

In 2013, the House of Commons Justice Committee reviewed progress since the Corston report and concluded that little progress had been made. The report criticised prisons for treating women like children and contrasted this with women's centres which it said help women to take control of their own lives.

There are around 40 women's centres in England and Wales, but there is a lack of funding and political will to open more centres.

Gender-specific programs and supports are critical to address the circumstances and needs of female offenders, including victimization, trauma, mental and physical health, pregnancy and parenting.

Other approaches – what works for women?

Prisons often create more problems than they solve, especially for women with complex problems that cannot be solved by short sentences. Instead of building more prisons, investing in comprehensive community support such as women's centers could be an effective alternative.

Timpson advocates for community-based alternatives to prison, such as Hope Street in Southampton, a housing complex where women live with their children.

Hope Street provides an alternative for women who are in custody, pretrial detention or at large. Several evaluations and research studies have documented the positive impacts for women who access women's centers, including lower rates of recidivism.

The program will be evaluated over the next few years. If successful, a similar model could be implemented nationwide, reducing the number of women who end up in prison.

Scotland's Bella Centre also takes a more progressive approach, focusing on community detention. This 16-place facility with no prison bars helps women reintegrate into society through community contact and access to local services. It is part of a £600 million plan to improve Scotland's prison system.

The government's focus on tackling the prison crisis presents a promising opportunity to explore more of these innovative, community-based alternatives to prison and bring about meaningful change for women offenders.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.