Men and women need different treatment in court (From This Is Cheshire)

Men and women need different treatment in court, says CPS man

1:10pm Tuesday 7th February 2012 in News

MEN and women should not be treated the same way during court proceedings, according to a top barrister.

Paul Whittaker, chief crown prosecutor of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said that punishments for men may not be suitable for women.

Recent reports have ‘emphasised the need to rethink the way in which women offenders are viewed and dealt with’, according to the legal expert.

He said: “There are significant differences between the offending of men and women and that these require a targeted response.

“Male-defined practices and programmes being applied to women has resulted in women offenders being shoehorned into a system designed for men.”

A pilot scheme in Liverpool in 2009 saw women given gender tailored community projects, rather than face custody.

And Mr Whittaker believes that sending women to prison for low key crimes results in a negative impact on the community.

He said: “It is estimated that around 66 per cent of women in prison have dependent children under 18 and of those women, 34 per cent had children under five.

“Children whose parents offend are three times more likely to have mental health problems or engage in antisocial behaviour than their peers.”

“(It) does not mean that women offenders are getting away with anything. They are engaging with support centres, but are doing so in a way which benefits wider society and results in less offending in the long term.”