Fewer women should be sent to jail, says Justice Minister
Fewer families will be destroyed if courts make more use of community sentences, Helen Grant says
COURTS will be encouraged to send fewer women to jail in a bid to reduce the number of families that are destroyed when a mother is locked up.
The proposal to give female offenders community sentences rather than jailing them was announced by Justice Minister Helen Grant yesterday. She told The Independent that many "low-risk" female offenders would "benefit greatly from punitive, credible punishments in the community".
Women who are "bad and a risk to the public and society" should still go to prison, Grant insisted, but she urged the greater use of community sentences backed by curfews, tagging and unpaid work.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Almost 4,000 women are currently in jail, less than five per cent of the 88,250 prison population of England and Wales. They include Vicky Pryce, jailed for eight months earlier this month after swapping speeding points with her ex-husband, Chris Huhne. Pryce was said to be struggling to cope in London's Holloway prison and was soon transferred to an open prison in Kent.
The Daily Telegraph points out that women are "far more likely" to suffer abuse, mental illness and self harm if they are incarcerated. The negative impact on families when a mother is sentenced to a prison term is also well established.
Grant said: "Many female offenders share the same depressingly familiar issues of abuse, drug and alcohol dependency and mental health problems. Women who commit crime should be punished, but we must not forget that a significant number have been victims during their lives, and need targeted support to break the cycle of offending."
To make sure fewer women are given custodial sentences, a new advisory body will be set up. It will include ministers and penal policy experts and will draw up proposals for the "robust" community sentences which aim to keep women out of prison. Grant insists the sentences will include "punitive elements" such as unpaid work.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Onion is having a very ironic laugh with Infowars
The Explainer The satirical newspaper is purchasing the controversial website out of bankruptcy
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'Rahmbo, back from Japan, will be looking for a job? Really?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What's next for electric vehicles under Trump?
Today's Big Question And what does that mean for Tesla's Elon Musk?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
What we know about the Copenhagen mall shooting
Speed Read Lone gunman had mental health issues and not thought to have terror motive, police say
By The Week Staff Published
-
Texas school shooting: parents turn anger on police
Speed Read Officers had to be urged to enter building where gunman killed 21 people
By The Week Staff Published
-
DJ Tim Westwood denies multiple sexual misconduct allegations
Speed Read At least seven women accuse the radio and TV presenter of predatory behaviour dating back three decades
By The Week Staff Published
-
What happened to Katie Kenyon?
Speed Read Man charged as police search for missing 33-year-old last seen getting into van
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Brooklyn subway shooting: exploring New York’s ‘steep decline in law and order’
Speed Read Last week, a gunman set off smoke bombs and opened fire on a rush-hour train in the city
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
How the Capitol attack investigation is splitting the Republicans
Speed Read Vote to censure two Republican representatives has revealed deep divisions within party
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is sentencing a Nazi sympathiser to read Shakespeare an appropriate punishment?
Speed Read Judge seemed to think introducing student ‘to high culture’ would ‘magically make him a better person’ said The Daily Telegraph
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sarah Everard’s murder: a national reckoning?
Speed Read Wayne Couzen’s guilty plea doesn’t ‘tidy away the reality of sexual violence’
By The Week Staff Last updated