PRESS RELEASE: Women in Prison responds to the Prisons Strategy White Paper

Women in Prison responds to the Prisons Strategy White Paper published by the Ministry of Justice, today, Tuesday 7 December.

Chief Executive of Women in Prison, Dr Kate Paradine, said:

“These new proposals fly in the face of the evidence and simply do not make sense. Most women are in prison for six months or less which is long enough to lose your job, home and children. This means that when leaving prison women are often faced with overwhelming barriers, such as searching for suitable accommodation and employment. Imagine what she could achieve in those six months instead, if supported in the community and able to solely focus on the reasons she was swept up into crime, like harmful substance use?

“We know this is possible, the Government can and must listen to those of us on the frontline and divert the money set aside for new prison places to invest in community solutions, like Women Centres, instead. Here, women can tackle the root causes of crime with the support of dedicated professionals, family, and friends."

NOTES TO EDITORS :

For media enquiries, please contact Molly Fleming at [email protected], Phone: 07971951477

Read the case for women’s centres here and for key facts on women in prison here.

Women in Prison (WIP) is a national charity that delivers support for women affected by the criminal justice system. We work in prisons, the community and ‘through the gate’, supporting women leaving prison. We run Women’s Centres and ‘hubs’ for services in Manchester and London and campaign to end the harm caused to women, their families and our communities by imprisonment

See www.womeninprison.org.uk for more information. Twitter: @WIP_live