The government published a report on its strategy for diverting women away from crime. It announced plans to reduce the women's prison estate by 300 places by March 2011 and 400 places by March 2012; and to divert resources from custody to the community in order to sustain the multi-agency community services established through grant funding.
Source: A Report on the Government's Strategy for Diverting Women Away from Crime, Ministry of Justice
Links: Report | Hansard | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report by a committee of MSPs said that the sentencing of women with mental health problems and their treatment by the criminal justice system should be re-examined. More action needed to be taken by the Scottish Government and other public bodies to prevent reoffending by female offenders, by fully addressing their needs and individual circumstances.
Source: Female Offenders in the Criminal Justice System, 3rd Report 2009, SP Paper 332, Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-Nov
An article examined the characteristics predicting completion rates for general offending programmes, and whether they differed between men and women. The results showed significant variation between the women and men in the predictors of programme completion.
Source: Jonathan Martin, Paula Kautt and Loraine Gelsthorpe, 'What works for women? A comparison of community-based general offending programme completion', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 49 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Nov
A report said that there was widespread discrimination in practices and attitudes towards women across the criminal justice system. There had been no consistent progress over five years in promoting women into senior positions, and women victims and offenders continued to be marginalized in a justice system 'designed for men'.
Source: Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice System, Engendering Justice: From policy to practice, Fawcett Society (020 7253 2598)
Links: Report | Summary | Fawcett Society press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2009-May
The prisons inspectorate said that black and minority-ethnic women were 'forgotten minorities' within the prison system.
Source: Race Relations in Prisons: Responding to adult women from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (020 7035 2103)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report examined provision for girls in custody, and raised concerns about the treatment of girls by the youth justice system. There was little hard evidence to support the idea that there had been a recent change in behaviour on the part of girls: but the response to girls who offended had became more punitive.
Source: Tim Bateman, Review of Provision for Girls in Custody to Reduce Reoffending, CfBT Education Trust (0118 902 1000)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Feb
A report brought together statistics produced by a range of agencies relating to the experience of women within the criminal justice system in 2007-08.
Source: Gillian Hunter, Ian Hearnden and Tracey Gyateng, Statistics on Women and the Criminal Justice System, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jan