AN over-reliance on short custodial sentences is undermining government reforms for female offenders, a campaign group has said.
Published on International Women’s Day, the Prison Reform Trust report said Scotland continues to have one of the highest rates of women’s imprisonment in northern Europe, with seven in prison for every 100,000 women.
The trust believes imprisonment can compound problems and the services women need to turn their lives around “often lie outside prison walls”.
Following a 2015 report by former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini QC, the Scottish Government plans to reform the system by replacing the country’s only all-female prison, Cornton Vale, with a smaller jail for long-term prisoners and five small ‘’community-based custodial units’’ in different parts of Scotland for shorter sentences.
The Prison Reform Trust said there is an over-reliance on remand and short jail sentences, with more than three-quarters (77 per cent) of women sentenced to custody in 2015-16 given six months or less.
Campaigners say such sentences fail to tackle the underlying causes of offending and the Trust said nearly half of women (45 per cent) who serve a custodial sentence are re-convicted within a year of release.
A government consultation on extending a presumption against short sentences ended last year, and the Reform Trust believes an extension could have a “dramatic effect” on the number of women sent to prison.
Yvonne Donald, Scotland and Northern Ireland programme manager for the Prison Reform Trust, said: “Scotland is leading the way in making positive changes for women in the criminal justice system.
“The introduction of women’s criminal justice centres and services where women receive support to tackle their offending behaviour, along with the issues that cause it, are an important step in achieving the Scottish Government’s goal to reduce the number of women in prison.
“However, as our report shows, Scotland still has a long way to go. Whilst reforms to the women’s prison estate are welcome, we must not lose sight that the services women need to turn their lives around often lie outside prison walls.”
Speaking in 2015, Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Michael Matheson said “short sentences do nothing to stop reoffending in our communities and only result in offenders going in and out of prison time and time again and reoffending upon release.”
Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of women in prison are held on remand, compared with 15 per cent of the male prison population. The Trust said rather than helping to turn women’s lives around, imprisonment can often compound problems, with over a quarter (28 per cent) of women losing their tenancy when entering prison, and a third of women reporting that they don’t know where they’re going to live on release.
However, the Trust added that recent proposals by the Scottish Government offer some hope for change.
Following consultation last year, an extension of the current presumption against short custodial sentences of three months may be introduced. An extension could have a dramatic effect on the number women being sent to prison and would send a clear signal of intent. Plans to develop a new smaller custodial estate for women were also welcomed by the Trust.
The new proposals for the female prison system have been described as a step in the right direction by leading women’s and penal reform groups, after the Scottish Government announced its bold plans.
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