Women and desistance: a different approach?

Yesterday I visited the Eden House Project in Bristol for the first time.  This is a Day and Outreach Service to women at risk of offending or involved in the criminal justice system.  The project was established following Baroness Corston’s report into Women with Particular Vulnerabilities in the Criminal Justice System which, recommended a more women centred approach
(see links).  I was very impressed with the services and support that the Project provides and I can't recall the number of times I used positive adjectives (brilliant being my favourite of the day).  In my opinion the project is a working example of supporting desistance despite evolving from The Corston Report where the specific word “desistance” doesn’t feature.

The support can be accessed voluntarily or through the Female Offenders Specified Activity Requirement (FOSAR) as part of a Community Order.  The benefits of these different contexts are that there isn't the need for "up tariffing" of sentencing in order to access the support.  The Eden House Project provides individualised support and targeting of needs rather than focusing on just the offences.  Without listing all of the many approaches, these include counselling, self esteem, parenting, education, drug and alcohol support, and problem solving.  There is also peer support which is being used very effectively and I would suggest that this provides an example to the other women that there is hope, and hope is so important to change, especially in the more challenging times. 

Now the ever present issue of economics.  This type of tailored support can be costly in setting up and running, there is however a big but in this area.  The New Economics Foundation’s report Unlocking Value (see links) identified that projects similar to this returns £14 of social value to women, children, victims and society over ten years for every £1 spent.  This claim suggests that the higher initial investment is worth while. 

Although the age crime curve indicates that men and women start and cease offending at similar ages, this doesn't mean that there are the same factors contributing to offending.  The Corston Report suggested that in addition to the seven resettlement pathways, the approach to working with women should also address:

“Pathway 8: support for women who have been abused, raped or who have experienced domestic violence.
Pathway 9: support for women who have been involved in prostitution”.

This would encompass a more individualised approach.  The question I have to myself after this thought provoking day is do we need a completely difference approach to promoting desistance for women, or can it be achieved under the key principle of respecting individuality?  This is an aspect that I will be exploring further.