Remembering Anne

Anne ( not her real name) gave evidence to the Justice Committee after Baroness Corston in late December  What a great shame the government in all its wisdom have completely excluded the noble baroness from all discussions about how to deal with women in the criminal justice system when she wrote the most holistic review and call for change. Some things are too important to be blue or red about. Purple is such a good color this season.

Lady Corston tells us that Lord McNally told her that a women's strategy to reduce reoffending would be forthcoming in the New Year.

December 2012
Anne was released from prison two and a half weeks ago. A was a victim of domestic violence for a  number of years. Eventually, she couldn't take it any longer and in an act of violence she killed her perpetrator and ex partner. She was convicted of murder and has just completed an 18 year prison sentence. Whilst still serving her sentence, A  was told she would receive extra support from probation, with a back up probation officer  and given a mentor in the community. The prison resettlement department also said they would help with her  resettlement pathways. Nothing transpired. She was released with a £46  release grant. She still has not  received a single payment  for jobseekers allowance and has to apply for a crisis loan and has spent much of today standing in the cold waiting for a food parcel. She is meant to be supported by a Stonham project where she resides  in  Kent however in spite of receiving additional funding for working with and housing Allison who is considered a high risk to the public and has MAPPA status, they are unable to assist with her most basic needs. She had to beg another resident of the project to lend her a tea cup to make a cup of tea on Friday. A  has no money for food. 

Whilst serving her sentence, A  says she was not supported by any of the  offending  behavior management courses or those meant to help her understand why she committed the crime and they were all about apportioning blame. 

Due to the nature of the crime she has had to take full responsibility for her actions in order to  get her parole. This defies any  evidence that it is helpful for women who kill, for reasons of domestic violence should be further punished in an already punitive system. The system forces women into assuming the role of the perpetrator  when in fact they are victims of domestic violence.   If she did not accept it was murder and not the tragic consequence of  a domestic violence situation, she would still be inside. A 's recent experiences, the lack of joined up resources and particularly the denial of any public agency including the prison service and the probation services  to take responsibility and work with her in a holistic fashion demonstrates, right now, how the criminal justice system continues to fail women offenders. A has just been informed her back up probation officer has been reassigned so now she has only one and she is only seeing probation only once a week although she did ask to be seen twice a week. None of the support or services which were promised to her have been made available and she is frankly, quite desperate to get her life back on track.  

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This is just one of the horror stories of women who are being failed by the criminal justice system. A system designed by men, for men, to punish and  mete out retribution.