Growing numbers of long sentenced women struggling to progress through their sentence
Long-sentenced women, a small but increasing proportion of women in prison, are facing significant barriers to progressing through their sentence, a new briefing published today by the Prison Reform Trust has revealed.
The briefing is the third in the ‘Invisible Women’ series and has been produced in collaboration with women who will serve at least eight years in prison. The briefing draws on the evidence of working groups in prison and written responses from women who are part of a wider ‘Building Futures Network’ of women with lived experience of long-term imprisonment.
Whilst the majority of women in prison are serving short sentences of less than 12 months, there is a small but increasing minority serving very long prison sentences. The number of women serving an indeterminate sentence has grown from 96 in 1991, to 381 in September 2023.
This briefing highlights how the lack of a woman centred approach to long sentenced women within the prison estate has wide ranging consequences for their ability to progress through their sentence.
For women serving longer sentences, particularly those serving indeterminate sentences whose release is authorised by the Parole Board, effective arrangements for sentence progression and risk reduction are especially important. Because women serving these sentences are a minority, many of these processes are designed for those in the male estate. Often women are viewed through the same risk lens as their male counterparts, despite huge differences in their circumstances and experiences.
The briefing shows that issues including variable access Offender Behaviour Programmes between prisons; and a lack of tailored support from staff, impacted negatively on how women felt about their ability to progress through their sentence. Women experienced long periods of “nothing time” during which, despite their best efforts, the sentence felt purposeless and stagnant. One woman said:
“For long termers, you have the bit at the beginning, the bit at the end, and the great depression in between.”
Another added:
“It stops being about rehabilitation and just becomes incapacitation.”
For women to progress through their sentence, they have to complete various Offender Behaviour Programmes (OBPs) based on their sentence plan. However, the briefing suggests that many of the women found these programmes difficult to access, with not all women’s prisons running all relevant OBPs. Some of the women consulted also found these programmes, which are often designed with long-sentenced men in mind, to be pointless and, at times, insulting. One woman said:
“It is important to get to the root of why someone committed a crime, but when you come in and get assessed, it feels like you’re just there to tick boxes. It’s basically saying “you’ve done this course, you’re cleared now”, rather than actually dealing with the issue.”
Another added:
“Some of the content of the courses is insulting – I do have a brain you know.”
The report makes a number of recommendations to the prison service. They highlight the need to develop a gender-specific approach for women serving long prison sentences, with policies designed specifically for them, to enable them to progress through their sentence. This includes the development of gender specific Offender Behaviour Programmes which better address the multiple and complex needs which often contribute to women’s offending.
Commenting, Emily Evison, co-author of the briefing said:
“More women are spending longer in prison than ever before, but many still feel they are set up to fail in a system in which they are an afterthought. The women we spoke to wanted to engage and progress but felt that they faced constant barriers to doing so. The prison service must better recognise the specific needs of this group and ensure a woman-centred approach is in place in both policy and practice for those serving long sentences. By doing so we can better support those women away from crime and create safer communities.”
