Women's Policy Action Tank: Women and prison
The number of women incarcerated in Australia is on the rise, yet there are stark differences in the nature of women’s offending which raise the question: is the criminal justice system poised to respond to gendered differences in the prison population? The Women’s Policy Action Tank has previously examined whether the prison system is an appropriate response to women’s offending. Today’s policy analysis provides the data to understand these gendered differences and proposes changes that will better respond to women in the criminal justice system.
Scorecard on Women and Policy provided by Amy Webster, Women’s Health Victoria
Topic: Criminal justice policy
Understanding gendered differences in the prison system
A gender analysis of the issue of women and the corrections system reveals a number of important differences between men and women in regards to risk factors, offending patterns and experiences in prison, with implications for policy and service delivery. This is particularly pertinent in the context of the 49% increase in the rate of incarceration of women in Victoria over the four years to 2014, due at least in part to sentencing changes which have had a disproportionate impact on women.[1]
For example, women are more likely to be in prison for minor crimes and commit less violent crimes than men (ibid.). Women in prison experience high levels of mental ill-health, victimisation, substance abuse and social disadvantage.[2] Compared to male offenders, female offenders are 1.7 times more likely to have a mental illness,[3] more likely to have an acquired brain injury,[4] and more likely to have minimal employment histories, unstable housing and be the primary carer for children (see here and here).[5]
Prior to incarceration, women in the corrections system have experienced sexual assault and re-victimisation at a considerably higher rate that the general community.[6] The increase in the female prison population can also be linked to ‘up-criming’, a trend towards penalising women for disorderly behaviour, which may in part be because this behaviour transgresses gender norms of femininity.[7]
Over 80% of women in prison have dependent children and a majority are the sole or primary carer.[8] This means that even short sentences can have an impact that is disproportionate to the crime committed as they can lead to disruption of the mother-child relationship, loss of custody or children entering state care (ibid.).
Incarceration and intersectionality
Higher rates of incarceration of Aboriginal women and women from non-English speaking backgrounds reflect the compounding effect of racial and cultural discrimination and disadvantage on gender inequality. Aboriginal women have a far greater risk of incarceration than non-Aboriginal women, and women from non-English-speaking backgrounds are also at higher risk. Aboriginal women make up about 0.6% of the female population in Victoria but 9.4% of female prisoners and are the fastest growing prison cohort (see here, here and here). [9] [10] Women from non-English speaking backgrounds made up 25% of the prison population (and 17.6% of women in Victoria) in 2009.[11] Vietnamese women are disproportionally represented in prison and their crimes are often linked to coercion and family violence by their partners.[12]
Aboriginal women are more likely to have grown up suffering family violence, sexual abuse and intergenerational trauma,[13] and are 3.7 times more likely than non-Aboriginal women to have been in out-of-home care as children.[14] They are more likely than Aboriginal men and non-Aboriginal women to have a cognitive impairment, as well as multiple disabilities and health problems (see also here).[15] Compared to non-Aboriginal women, they are more likely to be on remand, be jailed for minor offences such as unpaid fines (see here and here).[16]
Designing an appropriate response
The specific issues facing women in prison demonstrate the value of applying a gender analysis to policy-making, service design and service delivery. A gendered approach to meeting the needs women at risk of entering, or already engaged with, the criminal justice and corrections systems would involve, for example:
· Reducing the risk of offending by ensuring adequate access to stable housing, employment, and gender-specific mental health and drug and alcohol services for women in all regions of Victoria;
· Reversing changes to bail and sentencing laws which have led to higher numbers of women in prison, together with an increased focus on community-based rehabilitation programs;
· Introducing a sentencing principle that would make a prison sentence a last resort for women with dependent children;
· Increasing the availability of programs for women in prison to adequately accommodate the rise in the female prison population, including those on remand;
· Ensuring programs for women in prison are gender-specific and address underlying issuesincluding lack of employment, education andstable housing, as well as supporting relationships with children and family;[17]
· Introducing full mental health and cognitive disability assessments and ensuring access to appropriate services both inside and outside prison, including specialist services, case management and supported accommodation post-release;
· In recognition of the high proportion of female offenders with histories of abuse, implementing a trauma-informed approach to programs for women in prison and introducing alternative security arrangements to strip searches for female prisoners;[18]
· Recognising connection to culture as a protective factor for Aboriginal women and essential to rehabilitation;[19]
· Ensuring programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are culturally safe and available in languages other than English;[20]
· Ensuring timely and sufficient access to interpreters; and
· Ensuring timely and adequate access to stable housing, substance abuse and mental health services post-release.[21]
This analysis is a contribution to the Scorecard on Women and Policy project, initiated by the Women's Policy Action Tank. We invite policy specialists in all areas to provide analysis of public policy using a gender lens: womenspolicy@goodshep.org.au Follow us on Twitter: @PolicyforWomen
Notes and references
[1] By comparison, men’s incarceration rates increased by 20%: Corrections Victoria (2016) Key statistics on the Victorian prison system 2009-2010, p. 7. Available from: URL; Sentencing changes made in 2014 include abolition of suspended sentences and increased sentence lengths: Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (2014) Protecting us all : 2014 report on the operation of the Charter of human rights and responsibilities., p. 135. Available from: URL.
[2] Stathopoulos, Quadara, Fileborn and Clark (2012) Addressing women's victimisation histories in custodial settings. Available from: URL
[3] Victorian Ombudsman (2015) Investigation into the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners in Victoria. Available from: URL
[4] Victoria (2011) Acquired brain injury in the Victorian prison system, p. 8. Available from: URL
[5] These characteristics are similar in other Western countries: Stathopoulos, Quadara, Fileborn and Clark (2012) Addressing women's victimisation histories in custodial settings. Available from: URL; and Victoria. Sentencing Advisory Council (2010) Gender differences in sentencing outcomes, p. vii. Available from: URL
[6] It is estimated that 98% of female prisoners have experienced physical abuse and 89% experienced sexual abuse:
Stathopoulos, Quadara, Fileborn and Clark (2012) Addressing women's victimisation histories in custodial settings. Available from: URL
[7] Professor Kerry Carrington, Head of School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology, surmises that ‘violence by women still challenges deeply ingrained ideas that women are the nurturing passive sex and so when women do offend and are imprisoned they are seen as doubly monstrous’: Carrington (2016) Why are more women in prison and mostly for violence? QUT Law News (Mar 1). Available from: URL
[8] Drug and Crime Prevention Committee, Inquiry into the Impact of Drug-related Offending on Female Prisoner Numbers, Parliament of Victoria, 2010, p. 43. Available from: URL
[9] Baldry and et al. (2015) A predictable and preventable path : Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities in the criminal justice system [report of the IAMHDCD Project]. Available from: URL
[10] Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (2013) Unfinished business : Koori women and the justice system, pp. 9-10. Available from: URL; Corrections Victoria (2016) Key statistics on the Victorian prison system 2009-2010, p. 11. Available from: URL
[11] Centre for the Human Rights of Imprisoned People (2010) Culturally and linguistically diverse women in Victorian prisons : final report, p. 13. Available from: URL. Vietnamese women in particular are disproportionally represented in the prison population in Victoria, making up 14% of female prisoners.
[12] Vietnamese women often experience coercion in relation to crime, including threats against themselves and their children, but are unlikely to report it due to cultural reasons and/or fear of reprisal. For more information about Vietnamese and CALD women in Victorian prisons, contact Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health and Flat Out Inc.
[13] One Victorian study found that almost 90% of Aboriginal women in prison had suffered sexual, physical or emotional abuse: Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (2013) Unfinished business : Koori women and the justice system, p. 3. Available from: URL
[14] McEntyre (2015) How Aboriginal women with disabilities are set on a path into the criminal justice system. The Conversation (Nov 3). Available from: URL
[15] Baldry and et al. (2015) A predictable and preventable path : Aboriginal people with mental and cognitive disabilities in the criminal justice system [report of the IAMHDCD Project]. Available from: URL; Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (2013) Unfinished business : Koori women and the justice system, p.4. Available from: URL
[16] Stathopoulos, Quadara, Fileborn and Clark (2012) Addressing women's victimisation histories in custodial settings. Available from: URL; and Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (2013) Unfinished business : Koori women and the justice system, p. 4. Available from: URL
[17] Poor quality case management in prison is also an issue. Prison officers often do not have an understanding of services outside the prison and may face conflicts of interest: George, Barton and Russell (2014) Decentering the prison : abolitionist approaches to working with criminalised women : paper presented at Sisters Inside Conference 'Is Prison Obsolete', Brisbane, 10 October 2014. Available from: URL; Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (2014) Submission to Ombudsman Victoria investigation into the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners in Victoria, p. 4. Available from: URL; Burgess and Flynn (2013) Supporting imprisoned mothers and their children : a call for evidence. Probation Journal. 60 (1):pp. 73-81.
[18] Strip searches can often can retraumatise women with a history of sexual abuse: Flat Out Inc and Centre for the Human Rights of Imprisoned People (2014) Submission to the Victorian Ombudsman investigation into the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners in Victoria, p. 12. Available from: URL; and Mental Health Coordinating Council Inc. (2010) The psychological needs of women in the criminal justice system : considerations for management and rehabilitation, p. 9. Available from: URL
[19] Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (2014) Submission to Ombudsman Victoria investigation into the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners in Victoria, p. 4. Available from: URL
[20] Flat Out Inc and Centre for the Human Rights of Imprisoned People (2014) Submission to the Victorian Ombudsman investigation into the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners in Victoria, p. 8. Available from: URL
[21] Many women return to prison as they are not able to access post-release services: George, Barton and Russell (2014) Decentering the prison : abolitionist approaches to working with criminalised women : paper presented at Sisters Inside Conference 'Is Prison Obsolete', Brisbane, 10 October 2014. Available from: URL