Calls for six month prison sentences for women to be scrapped

Those who work with female offenders from across Yorkshire have called for short sentences to be scrapped when it comes to women being punished for minor offences.

The chief executive of Together Women Rokaiya Khan and West Yorkshire police and crime commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson have voiced their concerns after recent figures reveal there has been a 44 per cent increase in the number of women sent to prison for less than 12 months in the area.

Ms Khan runs Together Women which helps support women across the region with complex needs.

She said: “These short sentences achieve absolutely nothing, instead they cause a great deal of destruction for the women and their families.

“I would like to see sentences of less than six months abolished as the evidence shows that they do more harm than good, they fail to rehabilitate offenders and increase rates of re-offending. It’s not just the cost of going into prison, it’s the added costs. For example if the women’s children have to go into care, the cost can be phenomenal.

“Stringent community orders are much more effective where women can be worked with in a safe women centre environment which is trauma informed and where women can receive support for a whole range of issues to reduce the chances of her re-offending. . Violence and self-harm in Prisons are at record highs, this is not the right environment to work with women in a meaningful way that will reduce re-offending and not cause further trauma.

Figures released to the Yorkshire Post show it costs an average of £36,000 a year to send a person to prison, compared to just £3,500 for a community sentence.

The WYCRC is currently working with 1037 female offenders - of those 73 per cent have a community order and 27 per cent are serving a custodial sentence.

Out of all females with a custodial sentence, 55 per cent have a sentence of six months or less.

West Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company’s Karen Townend spoke about the work being undertaken with women released from custody and about the impact such sentences have.

She said: “Short sentences have very poor outcomes as the women are not in custody long enough to benefit from any structured interventions to reduce re-offending, but it is very likely that the women will lose their accommodation if they are sent to prison. If they are employed it is likely that they will lose their job, which makes it more difficult to gain employment following release from custody.

“If the women have children it can result in their children being taken into care if there is no family support and this can result in childhood trauma. As a result protective factors such as somewhere to live, employment/financial support and family ties can be put at risk which can increase the likelihood of re-offending.

“A community sentence with the support of the WYCRC and the Together Women’s Project means a women will be supported to remain in stable accommodation, gain employment/claim benefits and keep family ties and increase protective factors such as accessing mental health and substance misuse services where needed.”

West Yorkshire police and crime commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson said there is clear evidence that short term sentences have "little bearing" on re-offending rates.

He said finding "alternative solutions" for less serious offending is "vital for communities, the women involved and their families".

He said: “I would very much support realistic solutions that keep women close to home, maintaining family relationships and engaging women with services to treat dependencies, mental health and manage domestic violence issues.

“The strategy specifically considers women offenders are often overlooked and sometimes, unnecessarily imprisoned when they do not present a harm to the public.

“We need to seek alternatives to the criminal justice system for low-risk and vulnerable women to help reduce the burden on our prisons and social services."

A government spokeswoman said: “While sentencing is a matter for independent judges, our Female Offender Strategy has set out steps to see more women managed effectively in the community to avoid short custodial sentences.

“We have already invested £5 million in community services as part of a multi-agency approach to divert women away from crime and reduce the £15 billion cost of re-offending.

“Areas such as Greater Manchester have pioneered this approach, leading to a reduction in female imprisonment rates, and we are keen to see it adopted more widely.”