YOUNG WOMEN IN PRISON

“A Minority within a minority”

At ID Essence we offer pastoral and practical support to young women aged 18-25 in prison and after prison. The needs of women in this age bracket in the criminal justice system are often complex and multi-layered. However, there is a real lack of age and gender specific support in place for this age group to meet these needs.  

In January this year, Agenda and the Alliance for Youth Justice published a literature review to highlight the experiences of young adult women in contact with the criminal justice system. Describing 17-25 year-olds as a “minority within a minority”, the review states how  “little is understood about their experiences”.  

This resource takes a closer look at the review’s key findings and suggestions.  

numbers

Official statistics show that adult women (18+) make up less than 5% of the UK’s prison population. At the end of March 2020, there were 3,641 adult women in prison in England and Wales. 

Young adult women (18-25) in the criminal justice system (CJS), both in custody and the community, make up "a minority within a minority" on account of both age and gender; only 91 of the 3,641 adult women in prison were aged 18-20. 

The review found that figures for those aged 21-25 in prison are not routinely provided in population figures, contributing to the overall trend they identified whereby information for women in this age group are consistently underreported. 

the need

Agenda and the Alliance for Youth Justice found that young adult women tend to have a greater number of support needs than young men, suggesting they face additional vulnerabilities which can connect to offending behaviours. The review summarises the ways in which these factors intersect: 

"Young adult women (aged 17–25) in contact with the criminal justice system face multiple disadvantage. They have complex, overlapping needs, with their experience of coming into contact with the criminal justice system underpinned by experiences of violence and abuse, poor mental health, addiction, and having no safe place to call home. The challenges they face are mutually reinforcing and take place in a wider context of social and structural inequalities which shape their lives, including gender-inequality and racism." 

in the system

Once in contact with the justice system, young adult women often fall through the cracks, with limited support options available to them. In fact, the report highlights how the failure of women’s prisons to specifically address the needs of younger women is “a consistent feature of inspection reports”.  

Young adult women in contact with the CJS describe both youth services and provision for adult women as “not for them”. Young adult women report poor experiences of “settling in”, a lack of behaviour change programmes, drug and alcohol support, or education and training opportunities designed to reflect the realities of their lives.  

Without relevant support and services in place to meet the needs of young adult women in custody, time in prison can reinforce the difficulties and disadvantages that led them to prison in the first place. 

WHAT WORKS

Analysing available literature, Agenda and the Alliance for Youth Justice lay out “what works” for young women. Some of their suggestions for successful support is “characterised by an approach which”:  

- “offers support which is available flexibly and is accessible over time and into early adulthood, including therapeutic, practical and advocacy support”  

- “focuses on developing and sustaining positive and mutually-respectful relationships with professionals and peers, including a trusted professional point of contact during the transition into adulthood”  

- “is delivered by agencies which young women see as independent, whilst working collaboratively with multiagency partners and seeking young women’s informed consent ahead of information-sharing"  

This is the approach that ID Essence seeks to adopt in the support we offer young women. 

OUR WORK

ID Essence exists to try and plug the gap that has been identified for young women aged 18-25 who are in contact with the CJS. Whilst many young adult women enter custody on short sentences – from July-Sept 2019, 42% of young adult women entered prison under sentences of 6 months – most of the women who engage with us are on sentences longer than 6 months, making specialist and long-term support all the more necessary.  

Not only do we provide interventions that are specialised in content and delivery for young adult women in prison and the community, but a key part of our work is also to signpost those we support to other relevant agencies. We do so to provide holistic and bespoke support that is specific to each woman’s individual needs.  

Young women in prison or in contact with the CJS in any way should not be forgotten. They deserve to be seen and supported in a way that works for them. That is what we are here to do. 

WHAT NEXT

Read the ‘Young Women’s Justice Project Literature Review’ published by Agenda and the Alliance for Youth Justice. 

Check out more about how we support young adult women in the Criminal Justice System at ID Essence, and consider donating to our work. 

Follow @Agenda_Alliance and @the_AYJ on Twitter for updates and more research into the issues young women in the criminal justice system face as part of the Young Women's Justice Project.