Specialist women’s services,such as women’s centres, are highly effective alternatives to custody, and but these very services are under threatThe prime minister’s announcement of a review of mothers in prison can’t advance soon enough. Women make up the minority of the prison population,at just 5%, yet the impacts of imprisonment can be absolutely devastating, and not only on them but also on their children.
Last year 100 babies spent time with their mothers in prison. Another 17000 children were separated from their mothers by imprisonment. For many it would possess been the first time they spent more than a day absent from mum. That must be hugely frightening. It can also be extremely disruptive,with children having to move out of their domestic and stay with friends or family, or be taken into care, and sometimes absent from school.
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Source: theguardian.com