This specialist quarterly ebulletin keeps you updated on relevant developments for organisations working to support women in contact with the criminal justice system. Please contact Jackie Lowthian at Jackie.lowthian@clinks.org if there is anything you would like to raise or to include items in the next ebulletin.
In this edition...
- News
- Events and Training
- Publications and Resources
- Campaigns
- Blogs
- Funding
- Extra Information
The Prisons Strategy White Paper
The government has published its 10 year strategy for prisons in England and Wales. The strategy includes many positive proposals, including increasing the availability of drug treatment in prison and supporting clear pathways into health services for prison leavers. However, the repeated commitment to build more prison places and the absence of measures to address unequal outcomes for racially minoritised people in prison are highly concerning. The Ministry of Justice has provided the opportunity for people to respond to these proposals. Clinks has engaged with the sector to shape our response and we encourage as many voluntary organisations as possible to submit a response before the deadline on 4th February 2022. Read the strategy and submit a response here
Inquiry into improving outcomes for women in the criminal justice system
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is undertaking an inquiry into improving outcomes for women in the criminal justice system. The PAC will explore whether the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has a clear plan for how it will achieve the objectives of its Female Offender Strategy, published in 2018. It will look at whether the strategy is being delivered in line with the MoJ’s plans, and whether the MoJ is on track meet the objectives and achieve the benefits it sets out. As part of this inquiry, the PAC launched a call for evidence which closed on 26th January 2022. Clinks has submitted a response to the PAC and will publish it shortly. Read more about the inquiry here
Concerns about the Female Offender Strategy
The National Audit Office has reflected many of Clinks’ concerns with the implementation of the Female Offender Strategy. Its latest report finds that the Ministry of Justice made limited progress to improve outcomes for women in the criminal justice system, because it has not prioritised investment in this work. In 2018, we raised concerns that the investment falls way short of what’s needed to affect lasting change for women. Clinks will continue to call on the government to provide adequate and sustainable funding to community-based specialist women’s services and ensure women get the support they need in the community. The National Audit Office recommends that a full assessment of the funding, and specific goals and milestones for the strategy’s achievement are needed. Read the report here
Better support for expectant mothers in prison
On 11th January, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) published findings from an investigation into the birth of a stillborn baby on 18 June 2020 at HMP Styal. Ombudsman, Sue McAllister noted that there were missed opportunities to identify the clinical attention that Ms B, the baby’s mother needed that evening. The investigation found gaps in prison nurse training about reproductive health, long-acting reversible contraception and recognition of early labour. The PPO has made recommendations to remedy these issues in all women’s prisons. Prisons Minister Victoria Atkins said that all recommendations had been implemented, acknowledging that “there is clearly much more to do to ensure expectant mothers in prison get the same support as those in the community - something I will continue to prioritise." Read more here
Community penalties for pregnant women
Academics who examined the experiences of 22 women who were pregnant while serving time in English prisons have called for alternatives to custodial sentences to avoid putting expectant mothers and unborn babies at risk. All but two of the offences for which the women were convicted were non-violent. Six of the women were sent to prison at 28 weeks pregnant or later and three were 36 weeks pregnant. The research considers what happens in other jurisdictions, citing 11 countries which use options such as house arrest, electronic monitoring or the use of probation rather than custody for pregnant women. Lead author, Rona Epstein of Coventry University, said the imprisonment of pregnant women was “unnecessary” and called for the use of community orders or suspended sentences instead. Read the report here
Accessing maternity care services
As part of the Maternity Consortium’s core work with the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance, it is looking to hear from those with lived experience of accessing maternity services whilst in a custodial environment. Sands and Tommy’s Joint Policy Unit is working as part of a consortium to reduce health inequalities in maternity, and has launched a survey to understand pregnant women and birthing people’s experiences of accessing maternity services and any barriers they may have faced in getting the care they’re entitled to. Please complete this short survey if you’re currently pregnant or have at one time been pregnant since January 2019, or if you’re a healthcare professional/someone who has direct contact with pregnant women and birthing people and can fill this survey out with them. Take the survey here
Supporting families and maternal imprisonment
Clinks has published two further additions to our online evidence library. Jane Dominey, Sophie Ellis and Caroline Lanskey from the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge have provided up-to-date evidence on the impact of criminal justice involvement on the families of people in prison and on probation. Dr Lucy Baldwin from De Montfort University has provided an in-depth look at the impact of maternal imprisonment on the children affected, the mothers themselves and the family members who take over childcare responsibilities. The online evidence library, curated by Russell Webster on behalf of Clinks, is designed to support voluntary organisations working in the criminal justice system with access to the most up-to-date evidence about a range of topics. See all evidence library publications here
Inquiry into women’s health and wellbeing in prisons
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons gave oral evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Women in the Penal System as part of its inquiry into women’s health and wellbeing in prisons. Parliamentarians heard how living conditions in some women’s prisons were just not good enough. The pandemic had made issues much worse for women who reported more thoughts of self-harm and were locked in their cells for almost the whole day. The Inspectorate raised concerns about the use of prison as a ‘place of safety’ for women who were acutely mentally unwell. The APPG will be publishing a briefing paper on women’s health and wellbeing in February. Find out more about the inquiry here
The Howard League Community Awards 2021 women category winners
Successful community projects that reduce crime and transform lives for the better were honoured at the Howard League Community Awards 2021 celebratory event. Three projects received awards for their best practice. The Women’s Centre Cornwall won for its pioneering and innovative Open Mentoring Project which develops confidence and bring about positive change in women who have offended or are at risk of offending. It has a diverse group of volunteer mentors who have faced challenges and overcome their own issues and want to inspire other women to move forward with their lives. All are trained in understanding trauma. Awards were also given to Lancashire Women in partnership with Lancashire Constabulary for its Recourse project; and Future 4 for the Women’s Pathfinder project. Read more here
Wellbeing of staff in the women’s sector
A new Nuffield research project, led by Michele Burman, with a team including Loraine Gelsthorpe and Robin Robinson will investigate the wellbeing of women workers in organisations offering support and/or practical services to women and girls who are socially isolated and economically marginalised. The impact of Covid-19 means staff working in these organisations, who are mainly women, have had to rapidly adapt and re-align their services to respond to new working environments, whilst also dealing with the effects of the pandemic within their own lives. Research methods include a survey of community-based organisations, and interviews with staff. Clinks is a member of the project advisory group and will be promoting opportunities for members to participate in the research. Read more here
Clinks Women’s network update
To attend future Women’s network meetings please register as a member. Registration is free and open to current Clinks members that work or volunteer in women-specific voluntary organisations that provide services for women, or those who work with men and women but currently deliver fully established services designed specifically for and open only to women. The last open meeting of the Clinks Women’s networking forum took place on 14th December 2021, joined by participants from women’s services around the country who heard presentations on the theme of girls and young women affected by the criminal justice system. Jess Southgate provided an update from Agenda’s Young Women’s Justice Project, run in partnership with the Alliance for Youth Justice and we heard from Alison Lowe, Deputy Mayor for West Yorkshire on the Mayor’s priorities for keeping girls and young women safe. Register to the Women’s network here
Double Disadvantage
A six-organisation partnership project (with Hibiscus, Muslim Women In Prison, Zahid Mubarek Trust, Agenda, Criminal Justice Alliance and Women In Prison) has developed a 10-point Action Plan to tackle experiences of inequality and discrimination for racially minoritized and migrant women in the criminal justice system. It builds on the findings of the 2017 Double Disadvantage report which was delivered by Agenda and Women in Prison as part of the Lammy Review. The Action Plan calls for urgent but practical changes to a range of areas, including training, recruitment and external scrutiny to stamp out systemic biases that disadvantage marginalised women. It also calls on the Ministry of Justice to analyse and publish data on racial disparities in women’s contact with the criminal justice system. Find the Double Disadvantage report here, and find the Action Plan here.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
Agenda has been working with Baroness Armstrong on an amendment that would remove the joint enterprise element of Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs), which draws more women into the criminal justice system. The amendment was not voted on, but there was wide support for removing "ought to have known", leading the Minister to agree to examine the term in more detail in the statutory guidance. A separate amendment that Agenda supported Liberty in drafting was successfully put to a vote, and adopted in the legislation. This will ensure Parliamentary oversight of the evidence from the evaluation of the SVRO pilot, including data on the number of women, girls and survivors impacted, and gives a vote before national rollout. Agenda continues to work with Liberty and the coalition of human rights organisations to ensure this amendment is not overturned in the Commons. Find the Report Stage briefing here and the Committee Stage briefing here
Navigating the criminal justice system
Are you new to working or volunteering in the criminal justice system? Clinks is providing information sessions for voluntary sector staff and volunteers that will increase their awareness of the criminal justice system, the complexities within it, and how it works [8th, 10th February, online, free]. The sessions will highlight the different elements of, and the various structures within, the criminal justice system, including government departments, regional and local statutory agencies, and the role of the voluntary sector, the services they provide and its work in supporting people. Book your place here
Introduction to reframing
Clinks is offering a re-run of the popular ‘introduction to reframing’ training event [8th February, online, free]. It will provide introductory level training to improve your communications skills and build your organisation’s capacity to influence policy. Delivered as part of the Clinks Stronger voice training programme, which aims to bring together a range of expert training providers across policy, campaigns and communications to support organisations of all sizes to influence decision makers. The Stronger Voice project is funded by the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales, designed to help the voluntary sector working in criminal justice to develop a unified and influential voice, at both a national and regional level. Book your place here
Service user involvement
Clinks is running a service user involvement event [16th March, online, free] to equip participants to make meaningful service user involvement a reality in their organisations. There will be the opportunity to meet others committed to involving service users, discuss the challenges you face, and understand more about embedding service user involvement into your work. As experts by experience, service users play a vital role in helping to develop, deliver and oversee our members’ services and work to influence policies and practice in the criminal justice system. Book your place here
Women’s Resource Centre training
As usual, the Women’s Resource Centre is running a number of training courses and events. These include: wellbeing training [2nd February, online, free] which provides opportunities for reflections on wellbeing during the pandemic and tips to ensure wellbeing in the workplace; CPD accredited feminist leadership training [two days across February and March, online, £95 per day] which will increase confidence, knowledge and skills in leading through a feminist lens; and Ten Top Tips for Fundraising [17th February, online, free for London organisations]. Book your place here
Girls in the children and young people’s secure estate
The Centre for Mental Health has published a report on girls placed in the children and young people’s secure estate (CYPSE). The Centre’s findings include that girls find coming into the CYPSE ‘petrifying’ and re-traumatising, and racially minoritised girls are overrepresented through the youth justice system, but they are less likely to have their mental health needs recognised. The Centre recommends that the support available when girls first enter the CYPSE is strengthened, including improving the identification of mental health needs, neurodiversity needs, and vulnerabilities. They also recommend that staff need more training, strategies and resources to support the management of self-harm, which could involve collaborative learning in partnership with girls themselves, the inpatient secure estate, and forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Read the report here
Invisible women
A briefing on understanding women’s experiences of long-term imprisonment has been published by Building Futures, the Prison Reform Trust’s five-year programme exploring the experiences of people who will spend over 10 years in custody. The aim is to improve the experiences of long-term prisoners through advocacy, research and consultation work. Informed by desk-based research, group discussions, letters and emails from women serving long sentences and conversations with senior managers, this briefing focuses predominantly on women in England and Wales. It highlights the far-reaching consequences of a lack of specialist, gender-specific, trauma informed provision for women serving very long prison sentences. Read the briefing here
Women's access to drug treatment
With You has published a report exploring the type of support that is available to women who use drugs, their experiences of treatment, and how services can be improved to support these women. The report found that there was a wide variation in the services local authorities provided for women who use drugs; relationships with a partner playing a much larger role in women’s drug use than men’s; and women were more likely to be introduced to drugs by a partner. The report’s recommendations include ensuring the Drugs Strategy fully addresses the diverse needs of women who use drugs, and investing in women’s services focussed on racially minoritised communities’ experiences, addressing the additional barriers these women face in accessing treatment. Read the report here
Building bridges between services for women and children involved in the family and criminal justice system
A network providing opportunities for dialogue, to share best practice, policy solutions and academic research was established by Birth Companions with the Centre for Child and Family Justice Research at Lancaster University in 2021. A first national conference was held towards the end of last year with a specific focus on support for women who are pregnant or have a new baby, and who are involved with children’s social care and/or the family justice system and the criminal justice system. A recording of the conference and key resources can be accessed from the Centre for Child and Family Justice Research at Lancaster University. Watch it here
Safe homes for women leaving prison
Campaigners are calling on the government to provide proper support for women leaving prison, following a call for action from the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at HMP Bronzefield. The IMB’s 2021 annual report found that 77% of women were released to unstable accommodation in July 2021. IMB chair, Alison Keighley said: “An unacceptably large number of women leave Bronzefield without safe and secure housing, particularly those released into London. It exposes women to unnecessary risks, increases the chance of reoffending, and urgently needs to be addressed.” The campaigning initiative, Safe Homes for Women Leaving Prison, a unique collaboration of London Prisons Mission, Prison Reform Trust, the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields and HMP & YOI Bronzefield has been pressing for change on this issue since 2019. Find their 2020 briefing here and read IMB’s annual report here
Maternal imprisonment: child impact assessments
Russell Webster has published a guest blog from Sarah Beresford, Prison Reform Trust Associate and Churchill Fellow. The blog explores the impact on children of having a parent in prison, especially the child’s main carer. In this context, Beresford has co-created, with children with lived experience, a Child Impact Assessment for children with a primary carer, normally a mother, in the criminal justice system. This aims to ensure children are listened to at every stage of their mother’s journey, and that they are reasonably involved in decision-making about their own care and support. Through the Churchill Fellowship, Beresford is now testing this assessment framework in a variety of UK contexts. Read the blog here
Funding for organisations supporting women and girls from racially minoritised groups
With funding from the Tampon Tax Fund, Imkaan has launched the fourth framework of its funding programme, Margin to Centre – a fund for the racially minoritised women and girls sector. Voluntary organisations based in England and Scotland may apply. To be eligible, applicants must exist for the purpose of ending violence against women and girls and be run by and for racially minoritised women and/or girls. Grants of varying sizes are available from £15,000 to £50,000. The funders are particularly interested in applications from smaller organisations who have not previously been funded by Imkaan. Find out more and apply here by 10am on 7th February 2022
If you have any comments about this ebulletin or feedback for improvement, please email Jackie Lowthian.
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