Women's Penal Policy Campaign Still Needs Champions

Women's Penal Policy Campaign Still Needs Champions

A recent article from Professor Mike Nellis addresses the ongoing struggles to achieve female penal policy reform since plans for HMP Inverclyde prison were halted in January. For HLS, this  announcement came after a long campaign against the prison, however, it does not mark the end of the process but rather signals a new beginning for women’s penal policy in Scotland. However, can anything truly radical be achieved when traditional balances of power remain, namely ‘the continuing Scottish Prison Service (SPS) domination of the debate on the future of women offenders’ as well as ‘the power of the sheriffs/judiciary to exempt themselves from democratic debate on policy as and when they choose’

As Prof Nellis writes, on this issue the government need to hear from outside voices, those same voices that rallied against the prison in the first place. Howard League Scotland continue to be a leading voice in this agenda, and by becoming a  member of HLS that you add your voice and the weight of public support to this cause. If we are to make reform a reality then now, more than ever, we must add our voices to the campaign for Scotland’s community based penal system for women.

Read more:

Mike Nellis, After HMP Inverclyde: where power lies in Scotland’s penal reform debateScottish Justice Matters.

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