What Needs To Be Done

While initiatives such as the Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan (2022-2025) are projecting positive changes in the way females are treated within the prison system, they will do little to reduce the stigma that women experience both internally and externally.

More precisely, there are three key areas to address in order to encourage a full return to the community for more female incarcerates: reducing the overall number of women in prison environments; reducing women's exposure to violence and abuse; and bridging the transitional gap between incarceration and the community.

Firstly, we must reduce the number of women serving time in prison establishments.

Over 70% of female offenders are imprisoned for non-violent offences. These sentences are usually 6 months or less
However, during this short time, women may lose their homes, contact with their children, and sources of income; losses that go on to affect them years after they have completed prison-time
95% of children are removed from their homes when their mothers serve prison time, as women are usually the primary and sole caregivers for them
Non-violent crimes are most often produced by social, economic and gendered hardships, such as poverty and exposure to abuse. These are crimes that will not be fixed, or otherwise discouraged, by serving time in prison
The government must develop different ways of helping women who are committing crimes for these reasons, instead of branding them as criminals and immediately stigmatising them to the rest of society
GlowCycle will campaign to reduce the number of prison places for women, particularly for non-violent and short-term sentences

Secondly, we must reduce the exposure of women to domestic, sexual and emotional violence

At present, the complex trauma-generated needs of women in the prison system cannot be aptly addressed. This leads to many women becoming extremely vulnerable in the prison environment.
70% of women in prison experience mental health issues and they are proporitonally more likely to self-harm than men.
While trauma-informed training is increasingly common in prison establishments, it is not yet compulsory - reflecting again how government strategy tends to fall short of its promises, especially in the case of caring for women
Violence against women is a pervasive threat that compounds the issues of our current justice system. Only by addressing where women’s trauma originates from can we truly solve this problem, and reduce female offending.

Finally, we must bridge the gap that exists between the prison environment and the outside world.

This post-release transition is where the current policy most often falls short.
A lack of stable housing can lead them to be exposed to substance use, violence, and physical and mental illness.
The stigmatisation of prisoners means that finding employment is difficult; once again perpetuating the cycle of non-violent, hardship-based crimes and reincarceration.
As it is, the treatment of female prisoners during their sentences produces more problems for them at later times, instead of addressing the issues directly and at their root.
GlowCycle aims to address these current deficits in the prison policy through our own programmes and provisions. To provide mentorship support to obtain secure housing; develop skills for employment; and encourage good physical and mental health.

What Needs To Be Done

Firstly, we must reduce the number of women serving time in prison establishments.

Secondly, we must reduce the exposure of women to domestic, sexual and emotional violence

Finally, we must bridge the gap that exists between the prison environment and the outside world.

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