Accelerating Action: Rebuilding the Justice System for Women
The justice system is meant to be fair and impartial—but for women, it often isn’t. Whether they work in the system or rely on it for protection and support, too many women encounter obstacles, outdated attitudes, and policies that fail to meet their needs.
International Women’s Day is calling for us to #AccelerateAction, and that means more than just slow, incremental change. It’s time for a major shift in how justice is delivered and who it truly serves.
Almost two decades on from the Corston Report, which called for a radical change to the way we treat women in the criminal justice system, HM Inspectorate of Probation published a criminal justice joint inspection in 2024 with HM Inspectorate of Prisons: ‘The quality of work undertaken with women’.
Their inspection confirmed “that progress has been far too slow. Too often, services for women fall far short of the gender-informed approaches that were envisioned, meaning safe spaces where women can be offered support and rehabilitation are not available to those who need them.”
The inspection further found that, in prisons, there were too many barriers to good resettlement support, the provision of services was disjointed and too complicated, and support to address practical needs, such as access to bank accounts or national insurance numbers has deteriorated rather than improved.
In particular, suitable accommodation was often not found until very close to women’s release dates, creating uncertainty and preventing other necessary services, such as mental health treatment or medication, from being arranged reliably. There are also not enough staff in prison teams, leading to delays in addressing women’s needs, and reducing the chance of any meaningful support being provided during their sentence.
Inspectors also found little evidence that progress is being made in addressing the reasons why women offend and, while evidence-based interventions designed to address women’s needs are available, few women are given the opportunity to benefit from them.
The report showed some strong examples of best practice – offering hope that positive changes can be made when the Probation Service works closely with local authorities and partners to develop a whole-system approach – however unfortunately, these are rare, and the quality of supervision and support varies significantly across England and Wales.
One Response
I qualified as a Probation Officer using the 2007 Corston Report for my dissertation. I was then mortified at the lack of its implementation’s in 2013.
Due to the time and poor management, especially of my experience, I resigned in 2016.