Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Group set to study women in the justice system meets for first time

The group includes the Solicitor General along with academics and professionals from the justice sector.

Craig Paton
Wednesday 26 January 2022 08:13 EST
The group aims to look at the experiences of women in the justice system (Andrew Milligan/PA)
The group aims to look at the experiences of women in the justice system (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Archive)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A Scottish Government group set up to look at the experiences of women in the justice system met for the first time on Wednesday.

Chaired by community safety minister, Ash Regan, the Women’s Justice Leadership Panel will examine issues faced by women who are victims and offenders.

Along with Ms Regan, Solicitor General Ruth Charteris QC, as well as academics and professionals within the system make up the group’s membership.

The panel will focus on the differences between men and women in how they experience the justice system, how to increase female representation in senior roles within the field and international examples where women’s needs are better met than in Scotland according to the Scottish Government.

“The Scottish justice system needs to evolve to ensure it serves the needs of women,” the minister said.

“For example, issues like the impact of caring responsibilities on women or the blurred line between victimisation and offender status are issues which could be understood better.

“Some significant improvements have been made, but often changes are piecemeal and do not provide the fundamental reform needed to embed women’s rights.

“We need to develop a better picture of the evidence to demonstrate how the experience of the justice system differs depending on gender and promote a consistent understanding of the impact of this on women.

“This will help us deliver better outcomes for women and reflect expectations of what a modern justice system should look like.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in