Rewriting the Narrative - Women in the Justice System Jana Hargrove

This episode features three guests from RMIT's Centre for Innovative Justice (CIJ) who are passionate advocates for women's decarceration and building a more gender-responsive criminal justice system. ‘Leaving custody behind:  Foundations for safer communities & gender-informed criminal justice systems' is CIJs recently published paper that highlights the rising rates of women’s incarceration in Victoria and brings together the vast range of literature pertaining to women in the justice system, highlighting opportunities for reform to build foundations for an alternative trajectory. Lead author Catherine Caruana is joined by Elena Campbell, CIJs Associate Director for Research, Advocacy and Policy and Dorothy Armstrong the CIJ Lived Experience Advisor and Peer Support Worker to provide an overview of the paper and unpack some of the main themes and opportunities for reform. 

On this episode, Casey shares her journey and reflects on pivotal times and influences and what has made a difference in helping her break the cycle of contact with the justice system. Warning: podcast contains explicit language.

This podcast is the audio from session one of three of an online forum designed to start conversation around women in the justice system and the need to do things differently. Facilitated  by the Living Free Project, this session explores the pathways for many women to justice involvement and evidence based responses for  desistance through discussions with two accomplished researchers.

Whilst younger girls are identified most often as victims of repeated crimes, the vulnerability and risks remain present for our vulnerable and marginalised girls and women across their lives. Whilst their repeated victimisation goes unreported, one only needs to chat with a woman in the justice system to see that repeated exploitation continues well beyond early adolescence.  With the challenges of evidencing the reports, barriers in accessing support to address the psychological toll of this exploitation (as discussed in the last episode) and the scrutinty the girls and women are exposed to around their own behaviours, the system is far from one of safety and support.

In this episode we explore the sexual exploitation of girls and women and speak with two frontline workers who are supporting young girls to increase their personal safety to combat the regular risks they face in the community. 

Significant research into women involved in the justice system has highlighted a majority present with histories of trauma stemming from early childhood and compounded through multiple traumatic events over time. Complex trauma is something that is not well defined in Australia and subsequently relevant practice policies and frameworks are yet to be established for the multiple services that women with complex trauma are in contact with. Addressing multiple needs of a woman is challenged through a fragmented service system that is designed with services funded to respond to one issue at the one time. This approach leaves many women who have multiple and complex needs falling through the gaps and experiencing ongoing physical, sexual and emotional harm. There has been significant movement in services skilling up their workforce to be trauma-informed and whilst this is a positive step-forward, the challenge is that the model of care required to support individuals with complex trauma appears to be non-existent in the Victorian Mental Health System.

The Living Free Project works not only with women in the justice system however also young girls aged 10-17 reported missing. Our work with the young girls has raised our awareness of how a missing persons report can be used as a red flag for other factors that often pave the way to a trajectory of offending. Furthermore a targeted and personalised effort to address the reasons as to why that individual is going missing is essential to building those protective factors and reducing the risk factors that are likely to bring them in contact with the justice system