Women should not be imprisoned, says Howard League
Prison reform group the Howard League for Penal Reform has said that the jailing of women should be “virtually abolished”.
It claims that women are being sent to prison in unacceptable numbers and suffer disproportionately during their incarceration.
The league also highlighted the fact that women in prison are more frequently punished for misdemeanours than men and are more likely to self-harm.
In a published submission to the United Nations congress on crime prevention, the non-governmental organisation said 4,394 women were detained in 18 prisons in England and Wales on March 04 2005, almost treble the number held in 1993.
Furthermore as most women are only imprisoned for short periods, the number of women experiencing prison over the year has increased by almost 3,000.
Frances Crook, who will present the findings at the UN congress in April, said that even the Government recognises that these figures do not reflect increased levels of crime among women.
“The Howard League for Penal Reform is today recommending that prison custody for women should be virtually abolished so that only those women who are convicted of serious and violent offences and who represent a continuing danger to the public should be held in custody,” Ms Crook said.
“For other women offenders, community-based interventions that make amends for the wrong done and encourage women to change their lives offer the best change of creating a safer society.”
