Half of women in prison shouldn't be there!

Halve female prisoner numbers, says minister Simon Hughes
9 hours ago
From the section UK

The number of women being sent to prison should be halved, Justice Minister Simon Hughes has said.

Female offenders are a "special case" and should be treated differently to men because many had been victims themselves, he told BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast.

There are currently around 3,800 women in prison in England and Wales (81,000 men) Further government measures to help stop women ending up in custody are expected to be announced later.

"There are so many women who ought not to be in prison. About half ought not to be there at all," the minister said.

"I met a woman in her 20s the other day who clearly ought to be sectioned. Her problem is a health problem, not a criminality one. Prisons shouldn't have to cope with that."

Caring responsibilities

When asked why female offenders should be treated differently to men Mr Hughes said: "Women are a special case for very good, evidenced reasons. Firstly, many more women who go to prison have themselves been victims. They've often been abused or in violent partnerships.

"Secondly, many more women have caring responsibilities than men do."
The Liberal Democrat justice minister said that very few women were inside for violent offences.

"There are some women who do terrible things and deserve to be locked up for a very long time," he said. "My concern is for those who are not a danger to society, who have become caught by a system which then does not help them out of it."

Mr Hughes was speaking ahead of an announcement expected to say that a scheme in Manchester to stop women ending up in prison will be rolled out to six other areas in England.

so his thinking is that despite committing crimes, they should be let off because they have often been in abusive relationships.

you could say that prisoners usually had a tough upbringing and came from broken families, does this mean they should be treated nicely when they commit crime?

surely the solution is proper rehabilitation and support both in and out of prison. letting someone off because of a bad relationship sends out the wrong message. the law applies equally to men and women and people must take responsibility for their actions, not constantly look for excuses like this liberal democrat is doing.

so his thinking is that despite committing crimes, they should be let off because they have often been in abusive relationships.

you could say that prisoners usually had a tough upbringing and came from broken families, does this mean they should be treated nicely when they commit crime?

surely the solution is proper rehabilitation and support both in and out of prison. letting someone off because of a bad relationship sends out the wrong message. the law applies equally to men and women and people must take responsibility for their actions, not constantly look for excuses like this liberal democrat is doing.

Exactly, and they talk about equal rights! If they said ethnic minorities had a harder time of things and should have special treatment there would be riots!

People, whether female or not, make choices.

If they decide to commit a crime, which carries a custodial sentence, then prison is where they should be.

Another politician speaking rubbish

This is not a nice subject, but to think an MP believes men in prison are less likely to come from abusive background than women and less likely to have suffered the sickness of physical/sexual abuse

What a dumb statement to make MP Simon Hughes, have a word with yourself.

Imagine if it was the other way around - there would be uproar! Thats totally sexist, you can't let women out of jail just because they are women!

Ridiculous claim, does he have any idea what he sounds like?

This is why im moving abroad cause this country is full of deluded morons like this guy. Good grief. How out of touch have you got to be to come out with this tripe?

Liberal democrat Mp says it all what a joke of a party they are!