OLDHAM East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams says thousands of women are being arrested unnecessarily each year instead of being given the help and support they need.

Debbie, who is co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Women in the Penal System (APPG), said: “Police resources are being wasted on arresting women inappropriately, holding them in custody and releasing them without charge.”

Since May 2019, the APPG has been investigating what can be done to reduce arrests in England and Wales and stem the flow of women into the criminal justice system.

The APPG reached its conclusions after receiving original and detailed evidence from five police forces in England and Wales, who provided anonymised data on more than 600 arrests of women. The data showed that 40 per cent of arrests resulted in no further action and, nationwide, police forces made almost 100,000 arrests of women during the year ending March 2019.

Debbie added: “Detailed evidence from five police forces has enabled our inquiry to shed more light than ever before on the extent to which women are brought into the criminal justice system unnecessarily.

”Although arrests have fallen slightly in recent years, the evidence shows that there is still much to do to ensure that women get the support they need without being criminalised.

“The government’s female offender strategy recognises the challenges that many women face and outlines the clear benefits of intervening early to help keep them out of the criminal justice system. Now we need to see more progress on the ground.

“Diverting women to support services instead of arresting them is a smarter use of police resources that helps to reduce crime.

“Our inquiry found several examples of good practice where police forces were working closely with local women’s centres to guide women away from crime. So it’s time to build on this success and make sure that women in other areas of the country can access services that will help them to lead happier and healthier lives.”

The APPG found numerous examples of women being arrested for alleged non-violent offences. They included a woman who was arrested for begging outside a supermarket. Another woman was arrested after she walked into a main road repeatedly. A third, who was believed to be drunk and known to have mental health problems, was arrested for trespassing on railway property.

The briefing states that women who are drunk, behaving badly or putting themselves at risk do not need to be arrested. Often, police are being asked to deal with problems that other public services have failed to resolve, such as drug and alcohol addiction, mental ill-health and homelessness.

“If women do need support,” the briefing states, “arresting them for begging or shop theft will not tackle underlying issues causing poverty and may even drive women further into the criminal justice system if they end up with fines which they have no means to pay.”

The briefing recommends that all forces should adopt a set of principles for policing women, taking into account the factors that bring women into contact with the police and preventing criminalisation when it is unnecessary and inappropriate.

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Women in the Penal System (APPG) is co-chaired by Baroness Corston, Jackie Doyle-Price MP and Debbie Abrahams MP.

The full briefing - Arresting the entry of women into the criminal justice system: Briefing Two - can be read on the Howard League website at: https://howardleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/APPG-on-Women-in-the-Penal-System-briefing-2-FINAL.pdf