Introduction

We are delighted to present this second volume of evidence and ideas emerging from the Women, Family, Crime and Justice (WFCJ) network. The WFCJ network, and its publications, are focused on drawing attention to current, real-life issues relating to the experiences, perceptions and social and criminal justice environments for women and families. Central to this aim is the sharing of knowledge in an attempt to bring about positive change and further reflection on the social injustices that trouble our communities. Specifically, this collection shines a light on experiences of punishment, abuse and justice as experienced by women and families in several different, but overlapping, areas of contemporary society.

We make no secret of the fact that we, the editors, are deeply concerned with the lack of meaningful change for women and families to date. While the increased attention and focus directed towards the challenging social and criminal justice issues facing women and families in England and Wales is something to celebrate, we remain frustrated that the growing evidence base and catalogue of campaigns are leading to limited implementation at policy level. Previously, we commented: ‘it is disheartening to say that much-needed change has been slow to [be] actualised’ (Masson, Booth and Baldwin, 2021, p 1). This view was shaped from our critical review of the Female Offender Strategy (FOS) (Ministry of Justice [MoJ], 2018) in which we predicted that the string of ‘promises’ would be ineffectual owing to the lack of meaningful strategies and policies presented (Booth, Masson and Baldwin, 2018). Since then, and as highlighted by Anita Dockley in the foreword to this collection, the situation seems to have deteriorated. To recap, we have seen some worrying U-turns including the MoJ announcement in January 2021 that an additional 500 prison places would be created for women as a result of increased policing (MoJ, 2021). Although the stated intention is to make the new spaces ‘better’ spaces – with some intended to facilitate child stays – we believe the emphasis and allocated funds should lie with increased community provision. This would allow more women/mothers to be diverted away from custody and prevent the separation of mothers from their children by imprisonment at all.