I was provisionally booked to talk about women's imprisonment on
@BBCr4today
tomorrow but I've been stood down for
@HarrietHarman
which is a great choice!
What I would have said: 1/3 🧵
Murder conviction for a 19 yr old: pregnant at 14, concealed pregnancy, gave birth at 15 & ended the baby's life. Contested evidence from experts re. her mental state & actions. Sentenced:14 yrs. I ask again: whose interests are served by this kind of conviction & punishment?
Prosecution should be in the public interest. I really wonder if our interest is served when a child who became pregnant at 14 (because male wouldn’t use condom) concealed pregnancy through fear, gave birth alone & silently, before ending the baby’s life, is convicted of murder.
I bought a bottle of 🍷 because the label’s like my Mum who died yesterday
Vivid,disruptive,colourful,noisy,confusing,tuneful & a lover of life.A woman of faith who built community & loved people.She knew the story of everyone she met & did much for many. I am, because of her ❤️
Today I got ethics approval to set up a Child and Young Person's advisory group with children who've experienced parental imprisonment, to work with me on the methodology for my
@BritishAcademy_
study on children's experiences of parents' release from prison
#childrights
I'm going to be on
@BBCWomansHour
tomorrow (Tuesday) just after 10am talking about what happens to children when their mums go to prison and why we need to make some changes.
#childrenofprisoners
#keepingmum
I'm delighted to share that I've been awarded a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellowship to study parents' post-imprisonment return to their families from the perspective of children & their caregivers. a clumsy title but you get the idea! I'll remain
@OxfordCrim
start date 1/19
🧵 1/5 Seeing tweets about the
#esc2022
criminology conference just after I come out of a trauma therapy session, it seems like a good time to say I think criminology researchers should be talking about vicarious/secondary trauma much more & making sure it's properly addressed
That thing when the point you made in your PhD & have bent everyone's ear about for 7 years is lead item on BBC news. In case you missed it 😉 Children separated from parents in criminal court should be treated with same concern as children separated from parents in family courts
@LisaMMcGee
@Defencebrief
Worst thing of getting a driving licence at 17 was that at army check points the soldiers would pass it round to have a laugh at how bad my photo was … no, this was probably not a ‘rest of the UK normal’ teen experience ..took me years to realise that.
@Joanna__Hardy
@Joanna__Hardy
windsurfing in the sea off the coast of Donegal at summer camp aged 14. Off shore wind developed, I got blown out to sea. Rescue boat man had gone for lunch. Rescued hours later suffering from hypothermia. Told to take a shower & put an extra jumper on to warm up.
Few things make me as happy as when a judge calls to ask if I'll speak to other judges about why children must be considered when mothers are being sentenced.
Getting publications is what we're supposed to do as academics but seeing incremental change take place is much better.
She passed !!! Thanks for all the good wishes. (& for those who didn't see my last tweet - I shared it's just a v happy mum moment, because my daughter who couldn't use her legs properly for 9 yrs took her driving test today & I'm enjoying the reality of a miracle.)
25 years. 5 homes, 3 kids, 2 dogs & the rest...
Maybe marriage is like a rocket launch pad- you work at making a structure that gives you, your kids & others around you a place to launch from, the possibility of going further & living bigger, & always a safe place to come back to
in 20 minutes my daughter will take her driving test. I don't care if she passes or fails because for 9 years she was without the full use of her legs. We thought she'd never be doing this. Miracles happen. I'm a weepy mess 😂
Media pls stop citing '2/3 of boys with a father in prison go on to offend'. That statistic was published in 1996 referring to men born in 1953. Pls use recent relevant research about the multitude of harms & difficulties children face & not their imagined criminogenic potential
Good news, heard from a prison tonight that all women will see the film 'Safeguarding children when sentencing mothers' at induction. It will reach all women on remand & alert those who may have been sentenced without consideration of dependents to possible grounds for appeal.
I've found that many people working in criminal justice have had some sort of pivotal moment or event, or life experience that caught their attention & set their future direction. Tomorrow on
@BBCRadio4
at 9.30am & 8.45pm I'll be telling a bit of my story & where it's taken me.
I've been sitting on the news for a while so I'm really pleased to be able to share that I've been selected as a BBC/
@ahrcpress
New Generation Thinker 2024.
Looking forward to opportunities for public conversation about who, how, why we punish & the consequences of that for all
Welcome 👏to our 2024 New Generation Thinkers
@BBCRadio4
@ahrcpress
- who'll be sharing their research and ideas 📻over the coming year - get a taster🎧➡️
Seems academic publishing is like buses... nothing for months then a book & paper 24 hours apart 😄
I'm so appreciative of all those whose stories and experiences informed this research & everyone who encouraged me through the research & the writing. 💛
#childrights
#bookday
On BBC news:
@DavidGauke
has told
@BBCPM
that he wants to stop sending mothers to prison for short sentences and
@HarrietHarman
as chair of
@HumanRightsCtte
is calling for the best interests of the child to be the paramount consideration when sentencing mothers. This is fantastic
V pleased to see that my paper analysing the impact of maternal imprisonment on dependent children is in the November issue of Criminology and Criminal Justice . Read it in print or online
#childrights
#womeninprison
A privilege to contribute to this
@5_News
piece leading tonight's bulletin alongside
@paula_harriott
@PRTuk
. 7 years ago no one was talking about children whose parents are imprisoned and tonight it's leading the news 👏
“My children were very frightened.”
This mother spent four years in prison and said her children were bullied as a result.
A report says courts don't give enough thought to the impact a jail term for a mother can have on her children.
@PRTuk
|
@ShonaMinson
It's been a long road, but I am delighted that my paper with
@rachelfc
'Conceptualising the effects of imprisonment on families', in which we suggest a new conceptual term to analyse the harms to families is published today in Theoretical Criminology.
30/3/20 I spent 5 hrs on phone with my 20 yr old daughter whilst she waited for ambulance to come for housemate losing consciousness with Covid. Could've been with her in 70 mins; could've driven her housemate to hospital. I didn't. Clearly I've got really bad parenting instincts
* Pregnant women vulnerable to Covid 19
* Imprisoning pregnant women in 'normal' times puts unborn babies' lives & health at risk
In light of research we call on
@MoJGovUK
to act to release pregnant women & mothers & babies from prison
On Monday 14th March, to coincide with the one year anniversary of prison lockdowns, I will be publishing a research report on the impact of COVID-19 prison lockdowns on children with a parent in prison. If you would like an advance copy later today please DM me
#childrights
‘She had stolen a block of cheese, a bottle of shampoo, hair dye and some bubble bath.
The mum was then transferred to HMP Styal - not knowing if her daughter was alive or dead, and unable to contact other family members.’
She took her life 2 days later
In context of prison lockdowns, no visits, & a government who regard lawyers upholding rights as 'do-gooders', it's crucial to remember the very real consequences of the decision to imprison for the children of those locked up.
#childrights
#HumanRights
Judge told me in research interview that they never hesitated to send a pregnant woman to prison because 'the Holloway Mother & Baby unit is one of the best in the world & they will have great care.' Me: 'It closed a year ago'. Judge: 'Oh'. Recognising the realities is essential.
Important for sentencers to understand what pregnancy in prison looks like. A woman who tried to kill herself by gassing caused a fire. 2 years to convict her by which time she was pregnant. Neglect of both her & her unborn child in prison was appalling.
Pleased to have won the Early Career Impact Champion Award from the 02RB for my work on safeguarding children when sentencing mothers. Really pleased that
@rachelfc
who, next to my husband is my biggest supporter, won the overall impact award
@OxfordCrim
@OxfordLawFac
#impactMAD
Since this morning I've been contacted by many listeners who want to see change in the way children of imprisoned parents are treated. Often the message is that punitive sentencing & no concern for families is 'what the public wants'.
Not all the public.
Officials have drawn up plans to release thousands of low risk prisoners. It CAN be done. But
@RobertBuckland
says no because 'it will erode confidence in the justice system'. NO - failing to save lives & treating prisoners as lesser people erodes justice
@Michaelabooth7
I tell people your story of immediate sentencing & what that meant for your daughter. They say ‘that couldn’t happen’. I tell them it did and it does.
I cannot tell you how glad I am at the way your story is continuing. So good to see you both flourishing . Well done Michaela x
My Mum is very very frail. In the few minutes she is awake & I hold a cup of tea with a straw to her lips, with eyes closed she takes her napkin from its ring and carefully places it on herself. Even with the fading of the light,unique personhood shows up in the smallest things❤️
Today
@SentencingCCL
announced a new mitigating factor 'Pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal care'. Long overdue but I'm glad it's now recognised that prison is dangerous for pregnant women & babies, & mother/baby separation is harmful. So many people have worked for this 👏💪
Small boats carry big talent, extraordinary courage, desperate pain, babies just days into life, the unexceptional, the workers, the carers, the families.
People just like us, with 1 vital difference.
We've not faced anything that made us get into a small boat risking everything.
Just to be clear, this isn't a comment on the judge, who followed the sentencing guidelines. It's about the need to reflect on why we punish, how we punish, and what we understand it to mean when we punish someone who committed an offence, even a very serious one, when a child.
Thanks for all the support yesterday. Dog loss is hard.
I'm about to relocate so while family life requires my full attention I'll be taking a break from Twitter.
Stay well and let children see their parents in prison.
Really delighted that I'm a finalist for the
@ESRC
Celebrating Impact Prize. As anyone who heard me speak today at the Women's Summit will know, I've got lots of projects in mind to spend the prize money on should I win! Thanks to so many for supporting me & the work I've done
ESRC announces finalists for prestigious Celebrating Impact Prize:
Find out which outstanding researchers have been shortlisted for the 2019 awards.
#ImpactPrize
@UKRI_News
@SAGE_News
The first article from my doctoral research is now online, published in Criminology and Criminal Justice: 'Direct Harms and Social Consequences: An analysis of the impact of maternal imprisonment on dependent children in England and Wales'
I don’t have many heroes but Ruth Bader Ginsburg was top of the list. I want to see more of what she brought to the world. If you’re a weary believer in justice it’s time to pick yourself up, pray for the strength to keep going & get on with the job. You’re needed more than ever.
70 days since
@MoJGovUK
stopped prison visits. 10 weeks since 300,000 children have been able to see their Mum or Dad. I've contrasted this with the obligations local authorities are under to maintain contact for 'looked after children'
@NuffieldFJO
Ms A suffered incomprehensible loss. In labour her requests for help were ignored ; she delivered her baby, & lost consciousness. Found with her dead baby the next day.
She had not been found guilty of a crime
She was 18 & imprisoned
Talking about this tomorrow on
@BBCr4today
2 years since a young woman gave birth in HMP Bronzefield & her baby died. The Prison & Probation Ombudsman has released a damning report today.
‘Ms A’ called for help repeatedly & was ignored. After delivering her own baby,she bit through the umbilical cord & wiped up blood. 1/
V impressed by
@UniofOxford
@oxsocsci
ethics approval process. Application for Covid19 related research considered & approved within 2 days 👏
I'm going to be collecting data about experiences of children whose parents are in prison during this pandemic. More details later today
Thread: Many women are imprisoned for very short periods and pose no risk to public safety. The
@MoJGovUK
need to quickly decide to release as many as possible. Not just for the women but for their children & families who are trying to get through this difficult time without them
Good to see people concerned about maternal imprisonment following
@LucyBaldwin08
's talk
@Womans_Place_UK
@CrimeandJustice
. If you want to do something, ask your MP to support amendments to PCSC Bill which would make it a statutory obligation to consider children when sentencing
20 years ago I had no idea it was International Women's Day but I feel I put in a pretty good effort giving birth to my oldest daughter 😍
And that is who I will be celebrating today🎂
#IWD2020
➡️Remand is overused. Prison isn't a place of safety for women especially pre-conviction.
➡️Current overcrowding makes prison criminogenic not rehabilitative.
We need bigger, braver, conversations about purpose and practice of punishment to build a stronger & safer society 3/3
Children with parents in prison have not been able to visit them for 12 weeks. This breaches children's right to family life & is having serious impacts on their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. Read Leanne's account of her children's experiences
It's been a bit of a long process but I have just sent back my final, final, final book proofs. Thanks to those of you who've already pre-ordered. I can now confirm the book 'Maternal Sentencing & the rights of the child' absolutely definitely will exist.
Imprisoning women for* crimes of poverty, crimes committed under coercion, because they have poor mental health, to 'give them help', to provide a 'safe' place for them, to allow them to access detox, when pregnant or with children, is violence against women.
#IDEVAW2021
1/2
The response to
#FourThought
has been amazing!
14 minutes on national radio to talk about why our treatment of children with imprisoned parents is morally & legally wrong has already made a difference to individuals & organisations. Thanks
@BBCRadio4
Filling the hour before we say goodbye to our beloved dog by making churros for the teens and friends who've gathered to say goodbye to our Pepper. This is the Irish in me - approaching death and we all turn our attention to making food for everyone.
“The most heartbreaking spectacle was seeing women, who had these issues, denied visits from their children, then, when visits resumed, not being able to touch their offspring. You cannot give solace to such women; you can only listen to their grief.”
'In every crumbling, decaying magistrates court & ...Crown Court in the land we see every day the law's equivalent of untreated, neglected patients on hospital trolleys. And every day it is met by a wall of silence'
@BarristerSecret
Become informed read the book break the silence
I hope we will hear v soon from
@RobertBuckland
@lucyfrazermp
@vickyford
about how they will support reliable, frequent virtual visits between children & their parents in prison during this next lockdown. We've had 7 months to prepare for this so there should be immediate action.
As prisons are locked down pls remember in whatever way you do (prayer, thoughts, concern, action) all those in our prisons. This lockdown will feel unbearable for prisoners, & their families & will create challenges for staff. Pray for safety of all who live & work in prison. 🙏
Pleased to have been shortlisted for
@ahrcpress
@BBCRadio3
New Generation Thinkers competition. Heading home from an intense and excellent day of workshops & assessment exercises at the BBC. So many brilliant people doing fascinating work. Thx
@smhulley
for suggesting I apply 😊
Heard from Crown Court judge this morning that the film & paper 'Safeguarding Children when Sentencing Mothers' has ' hit the judicial internet today'. So good to hear that judiciary are recognising the need to consider children's needs properly in adult sentencing decisions.
10 years ago today I put in an application to do a PhD
@OxfordCrim
. I really had no idea what was coming next but it’s been a good ten years 😊I’ve met and worked with a lot of great people, and I’ve been fortunate to be part of some very good things.
Always a good moment when ethical approval is given for the next piece of research!
I'll be exploring how the experience of imprisonment (on remand or after sentence), or a non custodial sentence impact a mother’s ability to participate in family justice proceedings.
V. pleased to have an abstract accepted for a coauthored chapter with
@Michaelabooth7
about what it means to be activist, collaborative criminologists with ref to the inclusion of people with lived experience. Enjoying the happy moment that comes post acceptance, pre writing 😀
'What do YOU think about children of prisoners?'
I think it's time for a public conversation that recognises their intrinsic value and our moral responsibility and I've written about it for
@HuffPostUK
@OxfordLawFac
@UniofOxford
@PRTuk
Devastated to hear that a baby has died in prison. Why were pregnant women kept in prison after promising to consider them for early release
@RobertBuckland
? This lack of care for children's lives MUST NOT continue. Sending condolences to the mother and her family at this time
My work about women & their children is fed & motivated because of my own experiences of being a woman and a mother. Today I'm going to the Degree Show of my daughter
@csm_news
& reflecting on everything it's taken for her to get to this point & I'm ALL Mum & zero researcher 😊
This seems like a good time to pause . Book manuscript submitted to
@Palgrave_
& a new Sentencing Guideline announced for October 😁👩💻💃👌. I am not working in August - I'm going to hang out with my family instead. See you in September.
#childrights
#justice
#ecr
#keepingmum
What would happen to your children if you were taken to court and imprisoned? I expect you think there's some sort of provision to make sure children are ok in that situation.
There's not.
And we need to talk about it.
Please listen, share, RT.
Tomorrow I pick up the 3 dogs we're going to foster (and I suspect ultimately adopt) from a rescue centre. Most we've ever had before has been 1. this is going to be fun
TW: 2 women wrote a list to clarify 'which men are part of the problem'. It resonated: 600000+ likes on insta & shared globally. They've created a zine, digital or print, all profit to
@RapeCrisisEandW
&
@RefugeCharity
. Could be useful for school PSHE
5/5 so my fellow criminologists, make sure you get support and proper therapeutic supervision, and please can we talk about this much more with research councils & make sure grants and studentships cover appropriate support for researchers? Happy to chat to anyone about this...
Conducted by
@ShonaMinson
for the Centre of Criminology at Oxford University, she says “I found it the hardest piece of research I’ve done because the levels of trauma being experienced by the children were really severe.”
This film is for any primary carer facing sentencing. It provides a summary of the law & the information the court should have before sentence, about how a prison sentence will affect your children. There is also a briefing paper to give to your lawyer.
My book 'Maternal Sentencing & the Rights of the Child', is today ONLY £16.99 ebook/paperback!
For practitioners, academics, anyone who wants to know what happens to children when mums are imprisoned & how this should be taken into account when sentencing.
@BootstrapCook
and also ... it's made me realise that tweets about soup veg have a much better effect on mood than tweets about US supreme court judges and misogyny. in future I may just stick to food related tweeting ...
Signing off for 2 weeks to celebrate (with the 🐓 and 🐄 ) my 2nd lockdown birthday 🥳, Easter, 25 years married, a new dog 🐾 longer days & a bit more sunshine. Holding hope for change in the days ahead.
Finished writing a book manuscript tonight 🎉 My husband thought I’d been working on it for about two and half years. It’s actually only been since the end of 2020. I guess it’s been a loooong twelve months 😂
Male prison staff stripping a teen girl is appalling & rightly many are publicly calling it out and calling for change, But I hope that there will be more than a news cycle's worth of concern because it is, as we know, just one terrible thing in a whole system of terrible things.
➡️Since Female Offender Strategy 2018, its been the government position that fewer women should be in prison. Time to action that
➡️Why?Good evidence that reoffending rates increase when women have short sentences instead of community punishment because prison is disruptive 2/3
Call for pregnant women and mothers and babies to be released from prison. Research has found imprisonment of pregnant women is a risk to the health of their unborn babies. This is even more so due to Covid 19.
This is unbelievable
@SussexUni
Angry on behalf of the 18 year olds who've just begun their time with you. Are you telling them this is how they should expect to be treated for the next 3 years ? Where's the apology from you &
@brushboxuk
? This ad was never ok
#sexualharassment
Well that was fun!!! Thanks everyone who came to my book launch. The questions from participants have given me a lot to think about.
I can really recommend the book 😀 apparently it's robustly researched, beautifully written & forensically argued (according to the discussants)
My piece
@TheTelegraph__
‘Including the proposed amendments in the Bill isn’t about special treatment for women. It’s about fair & just treatment for children, like Alice’s four-year-old daughter, who desperately need to be more than just an afterthought. ’
So now that I'm home from the
#ESRC
Celebrating Impact awards, and I'm properly celebrating with my comedy cheque (for more work not for a holiday) & a bag of peanut M&Ms I've a few thank yous to say to people who've been part of the journey to this point.
Thx to all who shared my research on Twitter -it showed up on
@RiaChatter
’s timeline & she &
@itvnews
thought it newsworthy that hundreds of thousands of children are living with grief over the loss of a parent they’ve not seen for a year.
“They’re grieving for a parent who’s still alive but they can’t see.” Essex mother tells
@RiaChatter
her children have been suffering during lockdown: no visits to father in prison or video calls. Recent report on children with a parent in prison calls for clear roadmap out.
Delighted to attend the Westminster launch of the report into families affected by parental imprisonment
@OpenUni_CRC
@PaylerJane
@LiaPalios
Innovative work including post release with children & parents. It was a bonus to meet
@carolinenokes
& discuss maternal sentencing.
Female prisoners in England left to give birth alone in their cells, report reveals. Well done
@midwifeteacher
on this research. Treating women & babies like this is wrong. There must be immediate changes
@RoryStewartUK
to prevent avoidable loss of life
Thread: I heard yesterday of a mother who was given an 8 week sentence by a Crown Court huge before Christmas. Toddler went to Granny. Whilst inside she lost her tenancy. Out after 4 weeks without a home and unable to reunite with her child as she's homeless (
@SentencingCCL
) 1/2
As life opens up next week it's time for children who haven't seen their parents in prison for over a year to be given the opportunity for visits AND for physical contact. This report sets out the harms of restricting parent/child contact
@RobertBuckland
I was pleased to be invited on to
@TalkTV
with
@vanessafeltz
to talk about Carla Foster’s successful appeal & the questions we need to ask about the purpose and practice of imprisoning so many women