Is prison ever an appropriate place for vulnerable women?

Joan Scott
Inspired services
If you’ve committed a crime, you’ve got to be able to take the
punishment. Sometimes judges are a bit harsh, but women ask to be
treated equally with men and that should be the case in the courts
too. But judges should also consider the children who might be left
behind; they’re the ones who suffer.

Kierra Box
Young people’s activist
Prison should be a treatment and not a punishment –
incarcerating the vulnerable without proper care simply hinders
their progress. What is needed is rehabilitation for the most
vulnerable which can provide them with an alternative to crime and
reintegrate them in to society – not simply punishment, fear and
isolation.

Len Smith
Gypsy activist
Prison is not a good environment for mental health
patients. If confinement is thought necessary, a secure
health-related environment, with properly trained staff, is the
only suitable place for those with mental health problems. Quality
detox regimes are vital, simply serving a sentence is not enough.

Angie Lawrence
Single mother
If vulnerable women must be placed in prisons, then
investment must be sufficient to ensure that facilities, staff
numbers and skills are high enough to deal with the issues these
women may have. If not, then alternative secure accommodation needs
to be provided to guarantee that women’s lives are not put at risk.