Liz Hogarth OBE, a member of the Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition, shares what this ambitious collaboration has already achieved for women in the criminal justice system - and what more still needs to be done.
When I left HMP Holloway in 2000, after working eight years in the probation team, I said I was going to fight and change things for women.
I was appalled – and remain so – at the injustice, harm and suffering caused to women in prison and the wider criminal justice system. Over 80% have endured abuse at some point in their lives. More than half are mothers and the effects on them and their children are catastrophic.
That sense of injustice led me to be involved in Baroness Corston’s landmark report of 2007 – prompted by the tragic suicides of six women at HMP Styal – and, subsequently, a member of the Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition (CIFC), a group of independent funders working together to enable women's access to justice.
The Corston Report rightly argued for a “radical new approach, treating women both holistically and individually – a woman-centred approach.” To achieve this, it recommended Women’s Centres be developed and expanded as ‘one-stop-shop’ support services and increasingly used as an alternative to imprisonment.
And while political and public understanding has grown enormously since, there has been nowhere near enough progress in fundamentally changing the system for women and achieving that vision.
But there are glimmers of hope when dedicated partners and funders work together in the right direction.
Behind the scenes at CIFC, we’ve been watching one of our fellow members, The JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls, spearhead an exciting project that has huge potential to change the system for good: the Effective Women’s Centres Partnership.
And we’re thrilled to see another CIFC member, The Henry Smith Foundation, now joining forces with them to scale up and accelerate its impact.
Bringing together seven Women’s Centres and the University of Birmingham, the Effective Women’s Centres Partnership aims to evidence the effectiveness of Women’s Centres as an alternative to custodial sentences – and ultimately show what Baroness Corston’s vision looks like in reality.
To do it, they are rolling out the world’s most evidenced, gender-responsive, trauma-informed assessment tool for women in the criminal justice system, for the first time in the UK.
We’re standing at the edge of a monumental breakthrough for women’s justice. We urge more funders to join us, forge bold partnerships, and help accelerate progress toward a fairer, more just future for women and girls.
Known as the Women’s Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA), it is a much-needed gamechanger to realise the Corston vision and ensure Women’s Centres are – and remain – front and centre in the response to women impacted by the justice system.
So far, more than 2,000 women have been assessed using WRNA, giving a detailed and nuanced picture of what has driven each individual to their current circumstances – such as abuse, substance misuse, and financial difficulties.
It is helping probation staff and Women’s Centres gain a far greater understanding of the support women require, such as counselling, help from social services, or debt advice – addressing the underlying drivers of crisis and helping them turn their lives around and thrive.
The information gained from WRNA is used to inform robust, gold-standard academic research by the University of Birmingham about the harms caused to women in the justice system and ‘what works’ to divert them from crime. The data is shaping Government policy on the Women’s Justice Board, established earlier this year, and informing broader policy on issues of women’s justice.
Because of funder collaboration through CIFC, the Effective Women’s Centres Partnership is set to expand, enabling thousands more women in the justice system to receive specialist support and benefit from having a more detailed assessment of their circumstances. The evidence gap to achieve the Corston vision will become much narrower.
Ambitious collaborations like this are limitless. The Effective Women’s Centres Partnership is already developing another tool, the Gendered Wellbeing Assessment, to be used with women who have no prior contact with the justice system. It will provide a ‘real time’ picture of challenges facing women in different localities, with data used to inform health, housing, and employment policy in a way that seeks to prevent women and girls ever coming into contact with the justice system.
Justice for women is long overdue but, as the Effective Women’s Centres Partnership shows, when a bold vision is backed by commitment, resource, and a strong desire to work together, real change can happen.
We’re standing at the edge of a monumental breakthrough for women’s justice. We urge more funders to join us, forge bold partnerships, and help accelerate progress toward a fairer, more just future for women and girls.
Liz Hogarth OBE is an independent member of the Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition (CIFC) and former Ministry of Justice lead on women in the criminal justice system. She worked closely with Baroness Corston during her review and on the implementation of the Corston Report recommendations. She was awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to women offenders.
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