24/03/2024
The Guardian Media Group reports that a majority of the British public, albeit a small one, believe that pregnant and nursing mothers should not be sent to prison where a community sentence could be carried out instead. Polling conducted this month by Survation, on behalf of the campaign group Level Up and the women’s charity One Small Thing, found 53% of respondents believed a mother with a baby should not be sent to prison with her infant if a community-based alternative was available. Only 28% disagreed, with the rest answering “don’t know”. A similar majority believed the long-term effects on a child should be a key consideration when sentencing a mother. Dr Shona Minson, research fellow at Oxford University and leading expert on maternal sentencing, said evidence showed women as a whole were less likely to commit further offences when sentenced within the community. “A short sentence of imprisonment can mean a woman loses her home, job and children. If she is also pregnant, her baby and herself are put at risk as a prison is not a safe place for mother or baby due to the limited healthcare available".
