By: Minister of State with responsibility for International Law, Law Reform and Youth Justice; James Browne
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Gender Encounters in the Criminal Justice System: How does Gender Impact Diverse Experiences?
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Let me open by congratulating the ACJRD for their 25th annual conference and thank them for inviting me to be part of today.
This year’s topic is very relevant to a number of strands of work being undertaken in my department.
I’m sure the information shared throughout the day will contribute to our understanding of gender encounters in the Criminal Justice System and of how gender impacts diverse experiences.
We know that justice is supposed to be blind when it comes to gender but we also know that there are crimes in which gender plays a major role.
With this being the case, we need to acknowledge the role gender plays in how our criminal justice system deals with those crimes.
For example ‘Zero Tolerance’ - the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, launched earlier this year, differs from previous DSGBV strategies. It recognises that while both men and women can be victims/survivors of these hideous crimes, women and girls are affected disproportionately. This is a result of a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women.
When considering the complex needs of women who engage in the criminal justice system, it is important to realise that many of their mental health and addition issues stem from exposure to multiple traumatic events and adversity across their lifespan.
Cycles of abuse tend to recur and individuals progress to adulthood with a pervasive sense of unworthiness, lack of safety and mistrust of others.
These women are even more vulnerable because of the abuse they have, and are, suffering. As well as the impact this abuse has on mental health, alcohol and drugs can become part of a coping mechanism.
Tackling Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence is an absolute priority for this government, it is a scourge that has ruined and marred too many lives, particularly of women and children.
The publication of this new National Strategy marks a watershed moment.
It is an ambitious five year programme of reform to achieve a society which does not accept DSGBV or the attitudes which underpin it.
It is built on four pillars – Protection, Prevention, Prosecution and Policy Co-ordination – and the accompanying implementation plan contains 144 detailed actions to be implemented this year and next through new oversight structures.
Importantly, because while we are talking about women’s interactions with the Criminal Justice System today, I think it is important to note that there are groups within groups.
That is why this Strategy, for the first time, recognises that certain groups can be at higher risk of DSGBV than others.
Those at a higher risk include individuals with disabilities, asylum seekers, trafficked persons for prostitution, as well as Travellers, Roma and members of the LGBTI+ community.
Meeting the intersectional needs of these different groups is clearly a challenge that requires many organisations to become more knowledgeable about barriers faced by these groups and supports needed.
In our society we know that men and women who offend are often amongst the most vulnerable.
It is these vulnerabilities that can often contribute to their offending and response to interactions within the criminal justice system.
While women might represent the smaller group within the criminal justice system, we know, thanks to the increasing body of research in this area, that women who offend are among the most vulnerable of all.
Women are more likely to offend as a way of resolving practical difficulties and are twice as likely as their male counterparts, to be remanded and/or sentenced for trivial and non-violent offences.
And research suggests women are more than twice as likely to have committed an offence to support someone else’s drug use as men.
We also know, sadly, that the impact of incarceration on women’s lives can be very different to that of men.
I recently visited Limerick Prison and spoke to the staff and some of the prisoners in both the male and female wing of the current prison and was struck by something the Governor said about the immediate concerns of men and women when committed.
Without wanting to generalise, the majority of men committed to prison are concerned about practicalities around the routine in the prison, about phone calls, visiting schedules, when they can buy cigarettes and things like that.
Whereas the concern of women when committed is not for themselves or their needs, it is for their children - where they are, are they safe, when can seem them.
Knowing what we do about the reasons why women offend, about the types of crime they commit and about the impact that custodial sentences have on their lives, we now understand that women need to be supported very differently by the criminal justice system.
The Programme for Government 2020 contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society
We had a specific commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform and last year we established a cross-sectoral group to undertake this work which was completed and recently published.
Core to this Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-24, is the principle that while punishment for those who commit crime is a central element of our justice system, the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders is at the core of our penal system.
It seeks to find the balance, between ensuring that people who commit serious crimes receive a punishment and a period of incarceration proportionate to that crime, while at the same time acknowledging that sometimes community based sanctions are more appropriate in diverting offenders away from future criminal activity.
The guiding principle is clear, imprisonment should be used as a sanction of last resort for those who commit the most serious offences, typically those which justify a sentence of 12 months or longer, or individuals who the Courts determine cannot be managed safely in the community.
We know from research and data the majority of women who are sentenced do not fall into either of these categories in fact it recognises the impact that imprisonment has on women and also recognises their distinct needs.
It acknowledges that punishment alone does not prevent offending. Interventions and services to promote better social behaviour, rehabilitation and end offending are necessary to drive and sustain real change.
Diverting people away from custody is an important feature of the recently published report and recommendations of the High Level Task Force established to consider the mental health and addiction challenges of those who come into contact with the criminal justice sector.
The Task Force brought forward a Programme for Government commitment that recognises that the healthcare needs of vulnerable, sometimes seriously ill, people who interact with the criminal justice system, are complex and require whole of systems consideration and urgent action.
To advance its work the HLTF established three subgroups on:
1. Diversion of individuals with mental health difficulties and addiction/dual diagnosis issues away from the criminal justice system,
2. Capacity of the Irish Prison Service and the National Forensic Mental Health Service, and
3. Community issues including through care from custody.
The final report identified 67 recommendations across the 3 subgroups which the Task Force consider capture the entirety of an individual’s interactions with the criminal justice system.
Many of those who end up engaging with our criminal justice system, and the majority of those who end up in our prisons, have much higher rates of mental health and addiction challenges than the rest of the population.
It is increasingly recognised that the criminal justice system, and in particular prison, is not always an appropriate place to address the specific needs and challenges of those with mental health and addiction challenges.
We also know that female prisoners have, pro-rata, greater levels of psychiatric and broader mental health difficulties and more complex needs than their male counterparts.
An estimated 85% of female prisoners have addiction issues and 60% of women sentenced have mental health issues.
If we are to address these facts…
If we are to help these women and their families…
If we are to reduce the numbers who end up in a cycle of offending behaviour…
And if we are to create more stable family environments, safer communities and reduce crime, we have to ensure we have properly resourced, appropriately located systems of care in place for the most vulnerable people in society.
It is for this reason that the work and the recommendations of the High Level Task Force is so important.
It is about finding better ways of supporting people at the earliest point of contact with the criminal justice system, diverting them away and supporting them in their rehabilitation from addiction and in their recovery and management of their illness.
While much of our work is focused on diverting people away from the criminal justice system there will be cases where custodial sentences are appropriate.
When women are taken in to custody, it is essential that the environment they are housed in is capable of meeting their distinct needs.
The Prison Service is acutely aware of the importance of assisting prisoners to maintain close contact with their children while in custody.
Again this was something that was stressed on my recent visit to Limerick Prison and the new women's prison built there has been designed to do just that.
It has been designed in line with international best practice and built around the principles of normalisation, progression and rehabilitation.
It is underpinned by a therapeutic environment to support women in prison to reintegrate back into society on completion of their sentence.
A mix of accommodation is being provided comprising of bedrooms units, some apartment style units, and a mother and baby unit and is based around an external landscaped courtyard in keeping with the design principles.
Importantly, it will also provide improved facilities for families visiting which is vital for maintaining meaningful contact with their children.
One of the spaces for this purpose allows the women to prepare food for their children when they visit.
Not only will be they be learning to cook, they will be able to feel a sense of pride and achievement that they are providing and sharing a family meal. I don’t think the importance of allowing this sense of motherhood can be underestimated.
When commissioned the new facility will represent a sea change in the standard of accommodation and rehabilitative supports for female prisoners.
Of course the supports provided while in prison can’t cease at the moment of release.
Women who are supported to address their mental health and addiction issues while in prison have to be supported upon release or the progress made, risks quickly being lost.
A number of the recommendations made by the High Level Task Force I mentioned earlier, focus on reinforcing the interconnections between the relevant stakeholders (HSE, criminal justice agencies and Local Authorities) to deliver a partnership and supportive approach.
The Task Force looked at the gaps remaining in the system around mental health and addiction and at how we can integrate the services provided across all relevant agencies and departments to address them.
The recommendations made put the individual at the centre of the process and look to build uninterrupted services around them.
Justice, Health, Housing and others, all recognise the role they have in this and will all take an active role in working to progress the recommendations made.
I also want to take time to mention the role that the Probation Service plays in working to address the needs of their female service users.
The Probation Service recognises that women in the criminal justice system face unique challenges in addressing and reducing their risk of reoffending.
The Service offers a distinct response when working with female offenders focusing on a model that is underpinned by social work approaches and values.
This approach has a particular focus on relationships, trauma, victimisation and parenting delivered through a co-ordinated multi-agency approach.
Integrated community services for women, with an emphasis on peer support have been noted as being particularly effective when working with women.
I also want to mention the work the Probation Service is engaged in with in relation to the provision of step-down facilities.
This allows the Service, and their partners, to work with women in a semi-structured environment and provide training and employment opportunities as well as supporting independent living skills and pro-social behaviour.
This all contributes to a reduced risk of women re-offending and a better longer-term future.
I think I have probably spoken long enough – and perhaps taken a roundabout way of addressing the topic of today.
So let me try and summarise what I have said into a few sentences.
We know that women, in general, commit less violent, lower level criminal offences then men and that they often commit these offences for different reasons to men.
We also know that women who commit offences have higher rates of mental health and addiction issues then men who offend.
Many of these women have chaotic lives and that domestic abuse features heavily.
We know those women who do end up engaged in the criminal justice system are more likely to get a short custodial sentence and we know this does not necessarily help reduce reoffending.
We, as a department, want to do better by these women.
We are working to bring forward more alternatives to detention so that custodial sentences are used as a sanction of last resort.
In a holistic way, we are working to address the mental health and addiction needs of people who engage with the criminal justice system - through diversion and how to better support them in prison and in the community upon release.
You heard how we are improving our custodial facilities to better cater for the distinct needs of women committed to the care of the Irish Prison Service.
We are providing increased funding to the Probation Service to expand their services and support more people in the community.
And we have committed to a 5 year, €363 million strategy to combat all forms of domestic, sexual and gender based violence.
We want to keep women out of prison, but more importantly we want to work with them, and for them, to address the root causes of what leads them to offend.
We are committed to providing the supports and services they need so they can build a stable life for themselves and for their families.
I am afraid my schedule will not allow me to say for the full conference but I am looking forward to hearing how the rest of the day goes and to gaining the insights shared and views exchanged.
Best of luck with the rest of the day.