Centre for Mental Health

Women need more alternatives to prison, says Sainsbury Centre

29 January 2008

The Government should speed up efforts to ensure women in contact with the criminal justice system are offered viable alternatives to a prison sentence, according a Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health analysis, published today (see below).

The Corston Report and the Government's Response, by Max Rutherford, calls for more women to be given community sentences instead of being imprisoned. It also supports the Report's recommendation that women's prisons should be replaced by smaller, local units.

The Corston Report and the Government's Response shows that short spells in prison, even on remand, damage women's mental health and family life yet do little or nothing to stop them offending again. The damage is made much worse when women are imprisoned long distances from home and receive inadequate health care during and after their time in prison.

There are currently over 4,400 women in 17 prisons in England. Four out of five women prisoners have mental health problems, most commonly depression and anxiety. Almost half have been subject to abuse, while one in three has a child under five.

The Corston Report and the Government's Response welcomes the Government's commitment to the Corston Report's recommendations for better mental health care for women in police stations, courts and prisons. Improved assessment, care and support are vital to ensure women with mental health and related problems are kept out of prison where possible and given the treatment they need.

Max Rutherford, Sainsbury Centre policy officer, said: "The majority of women prisoners have complex needs that may include mental health problems, drug or alcohol use, a history of abuse or self-harm and housing problems. Many gain nothing but lose a great deal from even a short spell of imprisonment. Few get the support they need to get their lives on track when they leave prison. The Corston Report offers one way of breaking this cycle."

Angela Greatley, Sainsbury Centre chief executive, said: "Very few women need to be in custody. We need urgently to invest in viable alternatives to custody for women on remand or under sentence. We welcome the Government's commitment to better mental health care in women's prisons and to promoting the use of community sentences instead of imprisonment.

"We are concerned, however, that there are no plans to develop the small, local centres to replace the existing women's prisons nor to tackle the practice of remanding women in custody when they are charged with an offence that is unlikely to bring a custodial sentence. Both are vital if some of the most disadvantaged women in our society are to be given a better chance in life."

Download The Corston Report and the Government's Response (92 KB)