Engendering Justice - from Policy to Practice - The Fawcett Society

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Executive Summary continuedon domestic violence, rape and sexual offences as wellas its Violence against Women Strategy and Action Plans.The Commission is also encouraged by the current workof the Home Office in leading on a long over-due Cross-Government Strategy on VAW. However, good policydevelopment will not have impact on the ground, unlessresources and targets are directed towards creating a shiftin attitudes and culture.The Commission has identified five key areasrequiring urgent attention:• A cross-government integrated and strategic approachto ending violence against women. The new Violenceagainst Women Strategy will only succeed if there is realcross-government commitment and an understandingthat violence against women is a relevant issue for everydepartment.• Violence against women should be treated with the sameprofessionalism as other crimes with consistency in initialresponses to victims and investigation across policeareas.• A uniform approach to communication with victims by thepolice during investigation and by the CPS, particularlyat the point in time when the decision is made not toproceed with the prosecution of a case.• Support for women who experience violence shouldnot depend on a woman’s postcode. Currently, thereis patchy provision of violence against women servicesacross England and Wales, particularly in rural areas,and the provision of special measures, interpretationand support for women during the court process isinconsistent.• The attitudes towards violence against women,particularly in relation to rape and sexual offences,exhibited by the police, prosecutors, judges, juries andthe general public.Women WorkersWhile there is growing acknowledgement that femalevictims and female offenders require a justice system thatis responsive to their needs there is less recognition thatjustice needs women. However, a greater representationof women, particularly in high level positions, is crucial tocreate a criminal justice system which is representative ofour diverse society; responsive to the needs of women; andreflective of unique perspectives to issues.I think it is important for women to be seen in all areas ofthe criminal justice system. Until this is true the systemis not reflective of society. I do not believe that there is adifference in the administration of justice because there arewomen doing the job but that is an argument for womento do the job not to the contrary.Female JudgeWhether gender balance can be achieved, particularlyin senior levels, will depend on how responsive careerprogression and grading practices are to the needs ofwomen and how workplaces adapt to utilise the skillsand experiences of women. Adopting a gender neutralapproach, which ensures the ‘playing field remains thesame’ is not the solution. Rather, the participation ofwomen should be understood as a route to challengingmale dominance.There have been policy developments across thecriminal justice system in an attempt to increase therepresentativeness of the justice sector, such as theintroduction of the Judicial Appointments Commissionand changes to the Queen’s Counsel Selection Process.Policies in relation to flexible working, equal opportunitiesand diversity have also been introduced across the criminaljustice agencies. However, although women are makinginroads at lower levels, the higher positions remain stronglymale dominated.I felt that I had to defend my actions rather than him havingto defend his. I often felt like the perpetrator and not thevictim.Female victim of RapePage 10
The Commission has identified five key areasrequiring urgent attention:• Women’s caring responsibilities continue to operate asa disadvantage in career progression (with promotion ortraining requirements often requiring travel or long hours)and in coping with shift or on-call work.• When flexible working and part-time workingarrangements are in place, they are not appliedconsistently and rely on the interpretation of local linemanagement. There is also a lack of understanding thatflexible working can benefit all staff.• Women continue to earn less than their malecounterparts, particularly within the legal profession.• The diversity of individuals applying for the judiciary andfor Queen’s Counsel remains worryingly low. The numberof female applicants for QC in 2008 was at its lowest levelfor ten years.• A male dominated culture continues to exist across thecriminal justice system with women constantly having toprove themselves against male-defined standards such aslong working hours.Women working in the Criminal Justice SystemIn 2008, only 12 percent of police officers at ChiefInspector grade and above were female.Only 15.9 percent of partners in the UK’s ten largest lawfirms were women in 2008.At the top 30 sets of the UK bar, there are only 42 femalecompared to 479 male silks.In 2008, less than a quarter of the prison governors arefemale and fewer than one in four prison officers arewomen.Key Recommendations – Women Need Justice andJustice Needs WomenThe Commission welcomes the Government’s work overthe past five years towards ensuring that the criminal justicesystem meets the needs of women but the pace of changehas been disappointingly slow. This in-depth examinationof the experiences of women in the criminal justice systemhas resulted in recommendations which address each stageof the criminal justice process. These recommendations canbe found at Appendix B.Key over-arching recommendations include:Female Victims of Crime• A Cross-Government Strategy on VAW must beimplemented with real commitment from all Governmentdepartments.• The Government should fund a national awarenessraising campaign on rape and sexual violence, similar toawareness raising campaigns in relation to drink driving.• Specific training aimed at frontline staff within the policeand the CPS to change attitudes towards rape, andimprove initial responses to women and early evidencecollection must be rolled out across the country.• Joint targets for the CPS and the police should bedeveloped to incentivise them to work together anddevelop a national strategy towards rape and otherserious sexual violence offences.• A Government commitment to long term funding forviolence against women service provision, including anational network of rape crisis centres and a 24 hourhelpline.In 2008, just over 10 percent of the 109 High CourtJudges were women and just over 8 percent of the 37Court of Appeal Judges were female. There is only onefemale Law Lord.Page 11
Page 1 and 2: Engendering Justice- from Policy to
Page 3 and 4: ContentsForeword 5Executive Summary
Page 5 and 6: ForewordFor the past five years, Fa
Page 7 and 8: Executive SummarySince 2003, Fawcet
Page 12 and 13: Executive Summary continuedFemale O
Page 14 and 15: Chapter One: Continued.Methodology
Page 16 and 17: The Five Years of the CommissionCom
Page 18 and 19: Chapter Two:Introduction - From Pol
Page 20 and 21: Chapter Three:Women and Justice - M
Page 23 and 24: [A woman] had admitted to an offenc
Page 25 and 26: Figure 3: Female Reoffending Rate b
Page 27 and 28: writing the Government had undertak
Page 29 and 30: equirement could be used to refer w
Page 31 and 32: given current funding allocations a
Page 33 and 34: I feel that women with severe menta
Page 35 and 36: Good Practice Example: Birth Compan
Page 37 and 38: Female offenders serving indetermin
Page 39 and 40: The Commission recommends that if p
Page 41 and 42: Moving TowardsCommunity ProvisionTh
Page 43 and 44: which can be developed in conjuncti
Page 45 and 46: Chapter Four:Women Need Justice - W
Page 47 and 48: that VAW is a relevant issue for ev
Page 49 and 50: Women also need to have clear infor
Page 51 and 52: Victims reported telling their stor
Page 53 and 54: However, Rights of Women told the C
Page 55 and 56: in the decision-making process is l
Page 57 and 58: continued commitment to joint worki
Page 59 and 60:
It is also important for the CPS to
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He pleaded innocent, so I prepared
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isk assessments are not uniform. In
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espect and sexual violence is a com
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different needs and experiences of
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managers. “Sometimes childcare is
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local area, with women who have rea
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her career, as these women may find
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The key issue in my view is that th
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Some magistrates noted that they fe
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for women to access development opp
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Organisations sharing their views w
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Institutional change needed:➤ A c
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International example of good pract
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➤ The Criminal JusticeSystem will
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Key targets / indicators of success
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➤ Women working inthe criminal ju
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Key targets / indicators of success
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➤ Policy and practiceof all crimi
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➤The Judiciary and thesenior leve
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Appendix ACOMMISSIONERS:Baroness Je
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Annexure BSummary of Recommendation
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not be means tested.• First night
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in circumstances where the Prosecut
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• Allocation to a particular cour
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EndnotesMarch 200985Questionnaire R
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About FawcettThe Fawcett Society is
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Engendering Justice - from Policy to Practice - The Fawcett Society

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