NCDV’s mission is to make domestic abuse and violence socially unacceptable. We want everyone to be safe and that includes people who are seen to be marginally excluded. With this in mind, I want to shine a light on a subject that is very important to me; domestic abuse and women in prison. As part of my role at the National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV), I manage the Prison Partnership. There are 13 women’s prisons in England and to date NCDV work in partnership with 8 of them. Together with my colleague Kirsty, who is the Head of Family Law at NCDV’s sister company, National Legal Service, we aim to support women in prison to be able to get protective court injunctions so that when they are released from prison, they are protected from their abuser.
To give some background, 57% of women in prison report having experienced domestic abuse, but the actual number is likely to be much more than this. Often, the crimes which have led to them being in prison are the result of the domestic abuse they have experienced or associated with it. Women become trapped in a vicious cycle of criminal activity and victimisation. Their circumstances are often made worse by poor mental health, substance misuse or poverty. Leaving an abusive relationship is very risky and potentially life threatening, and we know that the point in which a woman is planning to escape or actually leaving is the most dangerous time for her and it is at this time that many women are killed by their abusers.
One may think that one of the few benefits of being sent to prison for some women, is that they will be able to escape their abuser. In fact, many women prisoners continue to be at risk of coercive control and/or physical danger from those that they cannot avoid on release. Yet, historically, the courts will assume that because a woman is in prison, she is not at risk – this just isn’t the case. When women in prison apply for non-molestation orders from within prison, the court will deem them to be low risk, because they are in prison and separated from the abuser and therefore do not grant the protection orders.
There is a world of difference between someone leaving an abusive relationship and perhaps going into refuge or protecting themselves with protective orders ‘outside’ prison, and a woman who has been incarcerated in prison. She has not necessarily separated from the abuser, there has merely been temporary barriers put between the abuser and the victim.
We know from our work with the prisons that a large percentage of women in prison are gate met by their abusers when they are released and this is how the vicious cycle of criminal activity and revictimisation happens. I know of women who are ‘controlled’ every bit as much inside prison, as they are when they are not in prison, if not more. For these women, prison IS their refuge! Whilst they are in prison, they are safe. Is it any wonder that they commit more crime once released?
Another problem for these women is that there are very few people who will look beyond the crimes that they have committed. They will judge these women, solely because they are, or have been, in prison and I believe that is wrong. These women tell us they feel unheard. They feel they have not got a voice. What chance do they have?
Of course, if someone commits a crime, then they need to be held accountable and punished for the offence they have committed. My point is that domestic abuse and violence is WRONG and can happen to anyone. It does not matter whether you are a wealthy upstanding citizen and pillar of the community or in prison, everyone should be listened to and treated fairly.
Sharon Bryan
Head of Partnerships and Development
