UK Guardian: "Our prisons are failing women"

Poor wimmin who break the law should be spared prison. This 'Crook' woman is a complete and utter imbecile. Even the Guardian readers are making her look idiotic! Article here. Excerpt:

'In pay, pensions, politics and promotion, the gender gap is a disgrace. But in justice, women face a national scandal. A report published today by the Fawcett Society reveals a justice system that is "institutionally sexist". This is of no surprise to organisations such as the Howard League, which have long campaigned against the hopeless situation of women rotting in our prisons.

Today, as we sit outraged in our armchairs, 4,274 women and girls languish in our jails. These are not the dangerous criminals one might imagine, but often sad victims of circumstance and violence – often at the hands of men. More than half have been victims of domestic violence, a third have experienced sexual abuse, and 25% have been in care as children. Two-thirds of women in prison have dependent children under 18; of these, just one in 20 remain in their own home once their mother has been sentenced.

A sharp increase in the severity of sentencing has seen this number soar by 60% in a decade. Two-thirds of women are in for less than six months: these are damaged people in jail for petty offences. Women and children with mental health problems and addictions are then warehoused temporarily in our flooded and failing jails. Rotting in the security-driven prisons, which follow the rules designed for high security men's prisons, simply serves to exacerbate problems and will most likely lead to more serious and frequent reoffending on release. The idea that public protection is served by this vicious circle is not one many victims of crime would recognise.'

Read the whole thing (if you can stomach it) and then read the far more sensible comments from (gulp!) The Guardian readers.

She's done this before of course: Close down women's prisons