11/03/2009 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Strasbourg, 11.03.2009 - According to a report of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Committee on Social Affairs discussed in Paris today, an ever-increasing number of imprisoned women do not need to be in prison at all. Most are charged with minor and non-violent offences, many are imprisoned due to their inability to pay fines, a large proportion is in need of treatment for mental disabilities or substance addiction rather than isolation from society, the report explains.
The committee considers that Council of Europe member states should make more use made of possible alternatives to custodial sentences. If the prison sentence is unavoidable, specific measures should enable women to maintain their ties with their children as most women in prison are mothers. In the United Kingdom for example, 66% of female prisoners are mothers. Other recommendations by the committee, concern pregnant women, health and educational needs as well as respect for human dignity and social reintegration.