Don't Make Women Pay for Prison Overcrowding

Women and girls are constantly told how to keep themselves safe. Don't walk home alone. Share your location. Carry a personal alarm. Park somewhere well-lit. Stay alert. 

The reality is that women think about their safety in ways most men simply don’t have to, and that shouldn’t be accepted as normal. 

Yet, with violence against women and girls continuing to rise, the advice is only getting louder. 

But if women are being asked to do more to keep themselves safe, the criminal justice system should be doing everything it can to protect them too. 

So, I find it difficult to understand a policy that allows offenders who have committed crimes that harm women out of prison early.  

The criminal justice system has a duty to protect victims. That means punishing offenders and keeping dangerous people off our streets.  

Yet 4,500 prisoners are due to be released under the Government's Early Release Scheme before next summer.  

Ministers insist the scheme is necessary because of prison overcrowding. I recognise those pressures are real and require long-term solutions. But prison overcrowding cannot become an excuse for making women feel less safe. 

While rapists and individuals who have committed some of the most serious sexual offences are excluded from the scheme, those found guilty of stalking, harassment, coercive control and other sexual offences are eligible. 

Victims will find little reassurance in that. 

These crimes are rarely isolated incidents. They are often part of a sustained pattern of intimidation and abuse. 

While women are expected to think twice about where they go and with whom, some of the very people who made them unsafe to begin with are being released back into the communities where they live.  

The stories that have emerged in recent weeks about some offenders saying that they intend to break the law again once released are even more cause for concern. 

Put yourself in the shoes of someone who has been a victim of domestic abuse or stalking. Imagine finally thinking you had the time and space to rebuild your life, only to discover an offender will be released sooner than expected. 

Once again, the victim bears the burden.  

The Government says violence against women and girls is a national priority. They’re right. In Hertfordshire, the police receive 1,000 reports every month, and an average of 59 domestic abuse calls every single day.  

Officers here are transforming the way they work to prevent and investigate these crimes, putting the spotlight on potential offenders rather than victims. We're investing in new support for victims too, including giving them access to Hollie Guard Extra, a discreet app which captures evidence in real-time and alerts police. Hertfordshire is also trialling providing victims with SelectaDNA forensic marking kits so that when abusers breach restraining orders, there is physical evidence for the police to follow. 

These things are important but let’s be honest, there’s no replacement for keeping dangerous individuals off the streets in prison for longer.  

That’s why the Government should halt the Early Release Scheme until a proper risk assessment is in place that considers the ongoing danger that offenders present to victims and the community. And we need better support in place for victims before perpetrators are released, especially where the crimes relate to domestic-abuse or sexual offences. 

If someone poses a serious threat to women, our priority should be protecting them. Not expecting them to change their plans and stay home.