This scheme provides much needed support to female adults with a history of offending. Working in partnership with statutory and voluntary agencies, the project offers a range of support across London.

Women represent a small, but rapidly increasing, proportion of the overall prison population. They are more likely to be serving short sentences, but less likely to be reconvicted, than their male counterparts.

There are far fewer prisons for women than there are for men – only 19 prisons. Consequently women are more likely to be held further from home and their families often have to travel further in order to visit. This can impact negatively on the ability to maintain family links.

Women prisoners are much less likely than the general population to be able to call on the support of a stable relationship, but most likely to have childcare responsibilities.

Women prisoners have been found to report much higher rate of illiteracy, not having worked, and greater rates of physical and psychological problems than women in the general population. Over 50 per cent of sentenced women prisoners had used drugs in the year before imprisonment.

Research has established that women offenders are more likely to be victims of domestic violence than women in the general population. A significant number of women in prison, one survey has suggested up to a third, have been the victim of sexual abuse.

We provide a women’s service that addresses the following needs: