At the Lib Dem conference in Brighton this Monday (11.25 am), Women Liberal Democrats will be proposing a motion focusing on Women in Prison. The full text of the motion is reproduced below. Debbie Enever, Vice-Chair of WLD, explains why the issue needs to be addressed:

Sometimes people need to be treated differently to be treated equally. Women make up a tiny percentage (about 5%) of the total prison population and consequently tend to be treated as an add-on to the male system.

While changes are needed across the prison system if we are to reduce reoffending and address overcrowding, women have particular needs which have so far been overlooked.

There are three main differences between male and female prisoners.

1) Men and women are very different types of criminals. Overall, women have very little involvement in violent or organised crime. Our motion recognises that prison is not the right place for women who do not pose a risk to the public and that it will be more effective to prevent women from falling into crime in the first place by supporting women at risk of offending.

2) Women (and their families) are disproportionately affected by their being imprisoned. As there are fewer women prisoners there are consequently fewer women’s prisons. This means that women have to be sent further away from their homes and families and visiting is made more difficult. This is especially traumatic for the two-thirds of women prisoners who have dependant children under the age of 18 – half of whom have under-5s! 95% of these children have to leave their homes in order to be cared for – penalising the child for the mother’s crime. 30% of women loose their accommodation (and sometimes all their possessions) while they are in jail. Our motion would stop children being punished for their mother’s transgressions – making sure that women are only sent to prison for serious offences. When women are detained this would be in smaller local custodial units where they are better able to retain links with their families and particularly their children.