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

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.”