The needs of women in prison
Rob Layton

Consider the fact that the statistics showing an increase in female violence rising yet again, and the news that certain charities are pushing for prison reform for women, I can make no sense of the reasoning other than these lobbyists are very vocal, or very influential funding in the criminal justice system to the tune of £36 million pounds a year.

One could be forgiven for thinking that this is just another instance of buying favours.
Rather than going easy on criminals the reverse should be the case for either men or women who commit violent crime.
I read somewhere that prison does not work aprox 61% of young males re offend within two years, I could find no data for women.
Considering that instances of Domestic violence are as high for women as men, I think this is utter madness.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw has been urged to carry out reforms of women's

prisons set out last year by an official report.

More than 20 prominent charitable foundations joined forces to ask the politician to move forward the proposals, which would phase out most large women's prisons and replace them with small units holding 20 to 30 offenders.

The plan was set out by Baroness Corston in March last year in a
government-sponsored review, but no significant steps have yet been taken to introduce her recommendations.

The charitable foundations contribute £36 million a year to the criminal justice sector in the UK.Those who signed the letter to Mr Straw included lastminute.com co-founder Martha Lane Fox, whose has set up a charitable trust called the Antigone Foundation.

Teresa Elwes of the Bromley Trust said: "It is rare for charitable foundations to speak out together in this way but we want to encourage the Government to seize the unique opportunity offered by the Corston review and bring about real root and branch reform to the justice system for women."

It came after the number of women in prison rose to a record high of 4,505 last week.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "We are committed to improving the way we deliver services and interventions for female offenders and women at risk of offending, which is why we accepted 40 of the 43 recommendations made by Baroness Corston in her report last year.

"The Government aims to reduce the reliance on prison for low-risk female offenders by focusing on improving provision and interventions in the community.
However, where a custodial sentence is appropriate, we are ensuring the needs of women are understood and prioritised."