The Review of Gender Equality

Part of 4. Questions to the Leader of the House and Chief Whip – in the Senedd at 4:23 pm on 11 December 2018.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 4:23, 11 December 2018

Thank you. I look forward to that statement. Leader of the house, I'm sure you'll be aware that women are currently discriminated against at every level of the criminal justice system. They're more likely to be arrested for offences that would warrant a warning if they were men, more likely to be refused bail, simply because they can't find anybody who is prepared to stand bail for them, they're more likely to be in prison for non-violent offences, and they're more likely to lose their home. As a result of women going to prison, over 17,000 children lose their home and are taken into care because it's women who look after the children, even if their men go to prison. All this, of course, was captured in the Corston report, which was published nearly 12 years ago, and there are very compelling arguments as to why we need to do something different. So, I hope that the statement we're about to hear is going to address the urgent need for women's centres, where women can get the services they need to address their offences. Often, they are both victims as well as offenders. At least half have been abused as a child and it's a vicious circle because it's the children of offenders who are more likely to become offenders. So, I hope that we will have—. I look forward to the Cabinet Secretary's statement and hope that we can take a progressive way forward and address this issue.