A Motherless Generation?

(Posted on 30/09/11)

A recent report reveals there are 17,000 children in the UK who are not with their mothers. The reason? The mothers are serving time in prison. And worse, the report says a full two-thirds of these women sentenced to hard jail time could have been sentenced within their communities, meaning they would be home with their children.

These numbers are nothing new to solicitors in the UK, who have fought for better regulations when it comes to parenthood and sentencing laws. The Howard League for Penal Reform reports this two-thirds encompasses women who were convicted of non violent crimes. That accounts for 11,000 of those children. Further, close to 3,000 women were sent to jail on remand in recent months alone throughout the country. They could have been sent home to await trial, and in a full 60% of those cases, they were found not guilty or were found guilty and given sentences that didn't require jail time. That means many of these women were innocent yet still spent time in jail until their innocence could be proven.

The psychological implications are disastrous. The emotional and social problems are seen soon after these mothers find themselves in legal trouble and it's their children who are the ones showing it. These children are struggling in school and often, visiting hours means their little ones are not available to visit because of school. And for those who do get to visit? "Visiting mum in prison is one of the most distressing things a child can experience", says Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League. She's presenting these findings to the United Nation's committee on the Rights of the Child later this year.

The solicitors who represent these women try to find a way to keep the sentences at a minimum, whether it's requests to the court to opt other sentencing options or by reduced sentences spent in an actual prison. There are 12 prisons throughout Britain. Only seven have units that accommodate mothers and babies and the privacy needed for these young infants.

Ultimately, the report will ideally shed light on the problem and encourage the collective judicial system to choose community sentences over prison sentences.