Using Women was a two year DrugScope campaign funded by Rethinking Crime and Punishment at the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.
The purpose of the campaign was to highlight the plight of women who get in trouble with the law because of illegal drugs, with a particular focus on women’s experiences of imprisonment and alternatives to custody. We published a major policy report, also called Using Women, in 2005, and continue to campaign for more humane and effective responses to women with substance misuse problems within the criminal justice system.
Using Women – the report:
The ten key messages of the report were:
- Only a small minority of women prisoners have committed violent crimes. The most common offences are drug dealing and trafficking, property crime and prostitution.
- Repeatedly, women prisoners and ex-prisoners told Using Women that they got involved in crime to fund a drug habit.
- Many woman get involved in hard drugs and crime only after entering into violent and exploitative relationships with men.
- Female dealers and traffickers generally operate at the lowest rungs of the supply pyramid.
- Women prisoners with drug problems suffer from high levels of poverty, marginalisation and social exclusion.
- Women with drug problems often have a history of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
- Drug use is not only a cause of psychological and social problems. It is also a symptom and a coping mechanism.
- Many women with serious drug problems have done things in the past that they find it hard to live with. Coming off drugs means facing up to what they have done, and being prepared to make amends.
- Women with drug problems often say that they would have a better chance of getting off and staying off drugs if they had a chance of a fresh start in a different area or town.
- Both problem drug use and the imprisonment of women have a negative impact on children and contribute to inter-generational cycles of disadvantage.
Recommendations from the report included:
- Reform of the drug laws to keep more women out of prison, including serious consideration to a new lower tariff sentence of drug couriering.
- Better use of community sentences as an alternative to custody, and greater use of residential treatment requirements by sentencers.
- Improving participation rates in treatment programmes among women with drug problems in prison.
- Every woman leaving prison to have access to a designated throughcare worker.
- An option of relocation for women who need to escape abusive relationships and peer pressures if they are to get off and stay off drugs, facilitated by a network of small, local residential centres. Local supervision and rehabilitation centres for female offenders, dealing with offending behaviour, along with psychiatric, financial, educational, training and employment problems.
- A greater role for restorative justice in dealing with women offenders.
Downloads:
Using Women - leaflet (PDF 225KB)This leaflet includes: ten key messages from the report, a twelve step programme for keeping women out of prison and an order form for obtaining the full report.
Using Women - factsheet (PDF 79KB)Key statistics on drug using women and prisons.
The full Using Women report is available as a free download to DrugScope members. Join now!
