Jailed Welsh women and their children face an additional trauma | Letters
Mary Wrenn points out that women given custodial sentences in Wales are sent to prisons in England, which has a negative impact on familiesSimon Hattenstone, quoting Ministry of Justice figures,...
By Guardian Staff · The Guardian Opinion
Mary Wrenn points out that women given custodial sentences in Wales are sent to prisons in England, which has a negative impact on families Simon Hattenstone, quoting Ministry of Justice figures, says “the self-harm rate in women’s prisons in England and Wales was at a record high” ( Report, 3 December ). It is worth remembering that Wales does not have a women’s prison. Women given custodial sentences in Wales are sent to prisons in England (Cheshire or Gloucestershire, for example). This clearly has a negative impact on families, especially children. The Welsh government’s preventive and trauma-informed approach favours the creation of residential women’s centres as a community-based alternative to short prison sentences. A pioneering project in Swansea, in development with the Ministry of Justice, is shockingly delayed. It can’t come soon enough for the hundreds of Welsh women ( the majority of whom are themselves victims of domestic abuse or trauma) currently serving sentences several hours away from their families. Mary Wrenn Llandenny, Monmouthshire Continue reading...