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Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice System Fawcett, the UK's leading organisation campaigning for equality between women and men, is holding a year long Commission to investigate women's experiences of the criminal justice system. The Commission will be gathering evidence in three phases; women as victims and witnesses, women as offenders and partners or family members of offenders, and women working within the criminal justice system. Vera Baird QC MP will chair the Commission and we have appointed a group of high profile and expert Commissioners. The Commission will explore whether, and in what ways, the criminal justice system is failing to meet the needs of women. Criminal justice policy is a particularly male dominated area since proportionately few women face criminal charges, and few women work at senior levels within the system. Hence both policy and law have developed along a male model. The consequences of this can be seen in relation to prisons policy which fails to deal with women's caring responsibilities adequately, and in relation to domestic violence and sexual offences which have traditionally been treated with less rigour than other crimes. In adopting a gender perspective on the criminal justice system, the Commission will add a more holistic approach to policy-making which is currently missing, for example by making the link between offending and victimisation. The range of current legislative proposals and the recent indications of new thinking in certain areas of the criminal justice system make the Commission especially valuable as it is essential that a gender perspective is heard in all contemporary debates. The Commission's primary objective is to inform and influence criminal justice policy. It will work in innovative ways to raise awareness of gender and justice among the general public and to educate decision makers within the criminal justice system through:
Fawcett, the leading organisation campaigning for equality between women and men, is holding a one year Commission on women and the criminal justice system. We want to make sure that women's voices are heard in the current debates about criminal justice so please contact us if you have been a victim or a witness and tell us about your experiences. Please see our website at http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk or write to Holly Dustin at the Fawcett Society, 1-3 Berry Street, London EC1V 0AA or email holly@fawcettsociety.org.uk Or download questions for organisations or questions for individuals as Word 97 documents. Written submissions are requested by 1st April 2003, or as soon as possible thereafter. Commissioners: Vera Baird QC MP – Chair of Commission |
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