The Bench Book which gives advice to judges on sentencing women, treats women as victims compared to men. There is a list of spurious reasons why women should not receive the same sentence as a man for a similar crime. This is distorting judicial process and discriminating against men.
Philip Davies MP – critique of the bench book and challenging myths
The below section is taken from https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2018/03/08/improving-the-health-and-wellbeing-for-women-in-prison/ ;
“The new Gender Specific Standards to Improve Health and Well Being for Women in Prison in England, published by Public Health England, highlight the need for a system approach. This includes:
- Preventing offending by tackling the wider determinants of health and supporting upstream prevention of substance misuse, violence, unemployment and exclusion from school
- Ensuring that while in prison women have access to high quality health and care services to support improvements to their mental health, substance misuse and general health
- Developing an environment in prison which gives opportunities for women to improve their health by improving nutrition and encouraging participation in physical activity
- Giving adequate support to women who have children, within the prison in mother and baby units, and those who are separated from their children
- Ensuring that support is available for women who leave prison in terms of housing, training and employment opportunities, appropriate access to social welfare and other benefits if applicable, continuation of treatment and referral into appropriate community services
Implementation of these standards is a shared objective for HMPPS, NHS England and PHE. We are aware that these standards are not all currently all being met and will not all be achieved overnight. But, they will form a programme of work which aims to improve quality of services and outcomes for women in prison. With these standards in place all health and justice partners can work together across the system and put in place pathways to improve the health and well-being of women in contact with the criminal justice system, in custody and in the community.”
Why should men not benefit from these standards of care in prison which are outlined above? The Establishment seems determined to ensure that women do not receive the same sentence as men for a similar crime and are often spared jail. Men’s prisons suffer from gross overcrowding with 2 men in cells designed for 1 man (see table below). Lack of wardens results in men being in lockdown for too many hours a day and their conditions are frequently substandard. The talk is constantly about removing all women’s prisons and replacing them with Community Centres. And now this. Do men come from a different planet? Are they not worth any consideration relating to their care.
76% of men in prison come from fatherless homes (Prison Reform Trust 2015), resulting in exclusion from school, struggling with mental health issues, or engaging in offending behaviour.
Adopting Gender Specific Standards to improve Health and Wellbeing for Women in Prison in England only is discrimination in the extreme and in this age of equality, social inclusion and human rights would never be tolerated if it was the other way around. This has nothing to do with equality of the sexes but is a deliberate and inhumane way of denying a similar respectful treatment in prison. It is not surprising that men’s prisons are out of control.
Women in prison – what about men?
MWWT supports the fact that help should be given to all prisoners but to discard help for men on the false premise there is excellent support for men is grossly misleading. “A world without women’s prisons” – please read below for the effects of the Bench Book on women’s sentences sparing them from jail for paedophile activity, stabbing, violent abuse to a baby, biting off her boyfriends scrotum, sexually assaulting a man on an airline and then consider that statement again.
Outcomes of the Bench Book
The following court cases will show how the use of the Benchbook by the Judiciary has created a Gender Apartheid system in criminal courts which discriminates against men. It has corrupted the Judiciary.
According to the Women in Prison charity, 84% of women entering prison in 2017 committed a non-violent offence – often for crimes such as theft, handling stolen goods and non-payment of council tax. What do they say about those women who are committing appalling crimes and being spared jail. It does not seem to fit the “narrative”.
- Thousands of female criminals to be spared jail.
- Drunk female driver spared jail because she is a woman
- Lenient sentence for female paedophile “because she realised it was wrong”
- Woman stabs friend in leg and spared jail “because she is a woman”.
- Woman stabs boyfriend but spared jail because “she is too bright”
- A jilted lover who bombarded her ex-boyfriend with abusive messages and left him contemplating suicide was spared jail after a judge said: ‘Breaking up is hard.’
- Woman spared jail after posing as mother of 11 month old by and having him circumcised.
- Woman spared jailed after biting off boyfriend’s scrotum during drunken argument.
- Woman sexually assaults men in front of 10 year old son on flight. Spared jail “because she is a woman”.
- Woman who abused boy for 6 years spared jail.
- Woman who lured man into sex trap is spared jail.
- Teaching assistant grooms boy – spared jail.
- Paedophile sisters spared prison because they are deaf.
- Woman spared jail after repeatedly attacking a baby
- Woman spared jail after she glassed a man in the eye
- Woman steals £1.2m but is spared jail
- Brother and sister dealing in drugs – she is spared jail, he gets 7 years
Prison conditions
Prisons and mental health
Prison conditions
MWWT will be campaigning against the whole judicial system starting with the bench book, equitable sentencing for both men and women, equal support services for both men and women as well as prison conditions which are at the same good standard for both men and women.
