The UK government has announced plans to reduce the number of women in custody by focusing on early intervention and addressing the root causes of offending. The Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, confirmed today that a new Women’s Justice Board will be established to coordinate efforts across the criminal justice system, charities, and government departments.
The board, set to publish its strategy next spring, will aim to offer more effective alternatives to prison, such as community sentences and residential women’s centres. Female offenders often face unique challenges, with over 60% of women in prison reporting experiences of domestic violence, and more than half having been victims of childhood abuse. The Women’s Justice Board aims to address these distinct needs by creating targeted interventions that help women avoid custodial sentences.
Chaired by Lord Timpson, Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, the board will work on early intervention strategies to prevent minor offences from escalating into serious criminal behaviour. The approach will focus on diverting vulnerable women away from the criminal justice system and towards support services that tackle the underlying causes of offending, such as poverty, abuse, and mental health issues.
A key component of the new strategy will be exploring alternatives to prison. Currently, only about a third of female offenders in custody have committed violent offences. For many women, short custodial sentences are proving ineffective, with higher reoffending rates compared to those given community sentences. The Women’s Justice Board will look to expand the use of community-based punishments and specialised women’s centres, which have been shown to be more effective in reducing recidivism.
In addition, a new Women in Justice Partnership Delivery Group will be set up to hold the board accountable. This group, consisting of experts from the voluntary and community sectors, will regularly review the board’s progress and publish reports on its efforts to reduce the number of women in custody.
The Lord Chancellor also announced a separate initiative to support adult victims of rape across England and Wales. From next year, free independent legal advocates will be introduced to assist victims throughout their cases. This comes in response to figures showing that nearly two-thirds of rape victims drop out of their case before it reaches trial. The new service aims to help victims understand their rights and ensure that requests for mobile phones and medical data during investigations are proportionate.
A pilot scheme in Northumberland found that two-thirds of challenges to requests for victims’ data were successful, which in turn reduced the number of indiscriminate police requests. The new legal advocacy programme aims to replicate this success nationally, offering vital support to victims and encouraging them to see their cases through to trial.
Further details of the legal advocacy scheme will be published in the coming months as the government continues its efforts to overhaul the justice system, with a focus on protecting victims and reducing the number of women in prison.
