9 - Women and the criminal justice system

Summary

Jo's story

Jo is 38 years old. She has three children. She has a long history of street drug use and has been in contact with community drug services for over 10 years. More recently, she has also drunk alcohol heavily. She has had some previous contact with the criminal justice system as a result of her sex work, but only one episode of imprisonment following a minor assault. She has now been arrested because she stabbed her male partner.

She was seen at court by mental health liaison workers, but the seriousness of her criminal charge meant that she was remanded into custody. When she arrived in prison, she was sent to the prison wing specialising in drug and alcohol detoxification. At the end of this she seemed depressed and was seen by the mental health team. They established that, for many years, she had suffered with voices; these were unpleasant and distressing and dated from her experience of sexual abuse in childhood. She had self-medicated with street drugs from an early age and now, sober for the first time in years, she wanted other ways to manage her problems. She began attending a group to help her manage her voices.

She discussed her feelings of loss about her two oldest children, who were in care. Her youngest child lived with her mother. She was also worried about her offence. Although she was intelligent, it became clear that she lacked confidence. Her partner had undermined her and was periodically physically violent to her. She had poor basic literacy. She had never held regular employment.

There are a lot of women like Jo who are in contact with the criminal justice system. Most of them are, in fact, not violent but, if they are, the consequences can be serious not only for them, but also for their children. To understand how typical Jo's story is, let's explore common experiences in the background of female offenders, the kinds of mental illness they have, what happens after someone is arrested and the services that are there to help them.