THE Liberal Democrats have called on the government to stop women being sent to jail for less than 12 months.
Their call comes on the fifth anniversary of the landmark Angiolini Report, which made 37 recommendations for improving the way women are treated by the criminal justice system.
That report was published a year after research suggested there had been a doubling of the female prison population despite no increase in the number of women in Scotland likely to commit crimes.
LibDem justice spokesman Liam McArthur said that despite some progress, women were still not being treated well by the justice system.
New analysis from his party suggested the number of women being given the shortest prison terms was unchanged from 2012, and that 4,000 women have been given short prison sentences since the Angiolini Report was published.
McArthur said the justice system “remains fundamentally unfair to women.”
“The use of senseless short-term sentences and remand remains rife," he said. "The number of women given the shortest stints hasn’t changed a jot. The continued over-reliance on prison belongs in the Victorian era. That is why it is so important that we realise the potential for the Angiolini Report to be a game-changer in the shift towards community justice.”
He added: “SNP ministers need to show they mean business. They could start by immediately announcing a new robust presumption against sentences of less than 12 months. Experts told the Justice Secretary this was required during a consultation in 2015. It is now 2017 and we still don’t know whether they will go ahead with it.”
Around 1,200 women are sentenced to prison each year, the vast majority of them given short sentences. The latest figures also show 41 per cent of women sent to prison were given sentences of three months or less, compared to 29 per cent for men.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the number of women in custody had consistently fallen over the past 12 months.
“We support increased use of early intervention and supervised bail as a direct alternative to imprisonment for women," she said. "That is why over the last year we provided Community Justice Authorities with an additional £1.5 million this purpose, which has been carried on into 2017/18 under the new model for Community Justice.
“Our wide-ranging plans for the female custodial estate include closing Cornton Vale and replacing it with a smaller national prison. We are also developing community custody units which will use trauma-informed practice to address the underlying issues that led to offending in the first place whilst allowing the women to be closer to their families and be part of their community.”
She added: “The proposal to further strengthen the presumption against short prison sentences is one part of our ongoing and wide-ranging work to reduce short-term imprisonment through the delivery of effective, community sentences that promote rehabilitation.”
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