Justice Rebellion and Gender Informed Services

National Probation Services have been underfunded and under resourced since the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms under Chris Grayling in 2015. This is widely acknowledged and the number of deaths of ex-prisoners in the community rose from 964 in 2017/18 to 1,093 in 2018/19. That is an increase of 13 per cent in a single year.

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People who received a sentence in custody or in the community had to be supervised under licence for a year. At the same time, risk was split so that people considered high risk were managed and monitored by NPS while those considered low and medium risk were managed by CRCs or Community Rehabilitation Companies.  This model is now being reintegrated but the human collateral suffered disproportionately by women, has led to an increase of 131% more women being recalled compared to an increase of only 22% of men.

Women are being put into unsuitable and dangerous bed and breakfasts upon release or worse, released homeless. They were being set up to fail by being put into Approved Premises with other women who were not properly supported.

The effects of the changes on women, who historically receive short prison sentences was not assessed by the Ministry of Justice and it is taking upto 15 months for women to be heard at an oral hearing by the Parole Board. Over 60 women at HMP Downview are over the timeframes of 3 to 5 months for their hearings since they have been recalled,  and the endless waiting  and lack of clarity about process  is leading to endemic self harm and  deteriorating mental health.  NPS staff are not qualified to properly assess risk and harm and often appear to act unfairly because they are poorly resourced.  We are deeply concerned about the lack of transparency in the process and that women are routinely being denied their most basic legal rights, once recalled. They are also not clinically or medically trained and there is no proper regulation for their position as law enforcement  quasi social workers.

1. We want to bring a claim in the High Court, asking for a judge led inquiry into the way that the criminal justice system is still failing so many women, from arrest, through the courts and custody, into resettlement and recall and parole.
2. We are also asking for a  complete review of the recall process so that vulnerable women are protected and people with mental health issues are protected.
3. We are asking that recall can only be ordered by a judge or with some judicial oversight and that the Parole Board is properly supported with more psychologist and psychiatrist members and it’s own Secretariat
4. We are asking that recall and risk are removed from NPS and put into the hands of professionals trained in assessing and monitoring risk, and who are properly accountable to a regulatory body.

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What are we trying to achieve? – We are trying to achieve gender informed justice, so that women are treated fairly and through a gender informed lens.  Women are usually the caregivers and the impact on the health,  mental health and future prospects for their children is devastating. The risk of a woman committing suicide while in prison is increased  three fold.

What is the next step in the case? We are celebrating women through an awareness raising exhibition depicting 131 women and stories of women, in a publication to support women and their families survive the incarceration and release processes, with a magazine for women in and in the community,  called  The View , in the House of Lords in January 2020.

How much we are raising and why? – We are raising £15 000 to publish the first issue and raise funds for the initial action and to prepare a ‘class action’  super complaint of women caught up in the system who are affected by the lack of a gender impact assessment,  essential under the Equalities Act.