New report published by NWJC & CCJS argues the justice system redesign must not fail women
Women’s centres and a public health approach must be at the heart of a bold agenda to deliver a justice system that works for women.
This is the overarching call from a new report, published today by National Women’s Justice Coalition and the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and co-authored by Naomi Delap, Director of Birth Companions and Liz Hogarth OBE, former policy lead on women’s justice at the Ministry of Justice.
Breaking out of the Justice Loop argues that the criminal justice system, designed for men, has consistently failed women for years and that we must “learn from the lessons of the past in order to avoid making the same mistakes; and look to other models for solutions in order to deliver, finally, a justice system that works for women.”.
Our prisons “are full of trauma”. More than 60 per cent of women in prison have experienced domestic violence and more than half have experienced abuse as a child. Far from rehabilitating women, prisons actively harm them and their children. Moreover, racially minoritised women are “overrepresented at every point” of the criminal justice system.
Given the extent of the systemic challenges, the report makes four main recommendations to ensure “the ambition for transformational change for women is finally realised”.
- The Women’s Justice Board should more clearly be modelled on the Youth Justice Board, with a ring-fenced budget and independence from direct ministerial control.
- Sentencing should reflect the specific needs and vulnerabilities of women, with a presumption against imprisonment and a central role for effective probation practice.
- Women’s centres and specialist organisations should be “at the heart of a holistic, woman-centred and integrated approach”, with sustainable funding underpinning this work.
- A public health approach, emphasising prevention over punishment, should be implemented “to address the root causes of women’s criminalisation”.