Radical proposals for dealing with women offenders are offered in a new report, Dying on the Inside, published by Inquest, the well-known pressure group.

Between 1990 and 2007, 115 women died in prison. One woman has already taken her own life this year. The high level of distress and vulnerability among women prisoners is well documented, yet a common thread in the detail of these deaths is the failure of the criminal justice system to ensure that women offenders are properly cared for. Women are also proportionately more likely to die in prison than men.

The report's key recommendation is that if women's deaths in prison are to be prevented, prison must be abolished as the central response to women's offending. Investment in radical community-based alternatives should be prioritised instead. Poverty and equality are the main reasons why women enter the criminal justice system in the first place and targeting these issues is of prime importance.

The conclusions of the report set out how law, government spending and policy can be redirected and reshaped to reform the criminal justice response to women offenders. Examples of best practice are provided, which urgently need developing and implementing nationally - some will require new legislation, others will not.

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The report focuses on the gender equality duty which came into force in April 2007, having been introduced into the Sex Discrimination Act by the Equality Act 2006. The criminal justice system, with other public bodies, must have regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity between men and women. The authors argue that early diversion to gender-specific community services and mental health facilities, rather than prison, is what is required to prevent women finding themselves in cycles of offending and imprisonment. Best practice solutions, such as those in the Netherlands, where offenders with children face house curfew rather than prison, are cited.

And if women do die in prison, the report calls for a raft of measures that will ensure that lessons are learnt and post-death investigations are effective in preventing further deaths. These would include the creation of a standing commission on custodial deaths to examine the wider issues around deaths in custody, and mechanisms for public scrutiny of coroners' recommendations and jury findings. In other words, someone has to make sure that mistakes are not repeated.

The report is a clearly argued plea for change from an organisation with decades of experience of what happens when things go wrong. It is time that government accepted the proposals and implemented at least the urgent interim measures set out in the report.

Stephen Cragg is a barrister specialising in public law at Doughty Street Chambers
s.cragg@doughtystreet.co.uk

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