On 22nd October, Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, said:
“Today, a second wave of prisoners are being released as part of the Early Release Scheme. While we recognise the need for action to address the serious issue of overcrowding in prisons, Women’s Aid is once again warning about the consequences this will have for survivors of domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls.
After the first wave of releases last month, we’ve seen our long-standing concerns come to fruition. Specialist domestic abuse services, who have faced decades of chronic underfunding, are already struggling with capacity as more survivors are turning to them for wellbeing and advocacy support following the early release of perpetrators. Understandably, many survivors find themselves needing more mental health support, as they struggle with the idea of their perpetrator being let out early. This is resulting in huge waiting lists for local mental health services and will likely have a long-term impact on everyone who needs to access this support, not just survivors of domestic abuse.
The government must listen to our continued warnings and take action to mitigate the very real risk that this scheme is posing to the physical and mental safety of survivors. Easing prison overcrowding should not come at the price of survivors safety, or even their life.”
For the full comment see here
Original reporting by Family Law Week