Report highlights gaps in AL’s support for women in justice system

A new study found women in the justice system often do not get the support they need as victims and are punished harshly when trauma and hardship push them into the prison system.

The new report from the think tank the R Street Institute showed women’s experiences with violence, caregiving pressures and poverty are too often ignored in courtrooms.

Sarah Anderson, associate director of criminal justice and civil liberties at the institute and the report’s co-author, said the lack of understanding plays a major role in how women are treated, noting such factors often show up in the real lives of women whose crimes are directly linked to their exploitation or survival.

“There are numerous examples of women who have been trafficked, either human trafficking or for women, most often sex trafficking, who are then committing crimes in the course of their trafficking,” Anderson reported. “Whether that be prostitution, other sex crimes, money laundering, falsifying bank accounts is a common one.”

According to the report, women are being introduced to the criminal justice system more rapidly in recent years. The incarcerated female population has tripled since 1985, rising twice as fast as the male population. In Alabama, the female incarceration rate is higher than the national average. Arrest trends show a similar pattern, with far more women being charged for violent and drug-related crimes than in past decades.

Anderson says traditional reforms have mainly focused on men, leaving gaps in how the system responds to women. She says policies that don’t account for women’s experiences expand incarceration without improving public safety or addressing the causes behind it. She says Georgia has taken an important step with the new Survivor Justice Act.

“All it simply allows courts to do is allow evidence of coercion or trauma to serve as a defense at trial,” Anderson explained. “A mitigating factor at sentencing, and/or a basis for even revisiting lengthy terms of incarceration once a victim of crime has demonstrated rehabilitation.”

Anderson added the report recommended more trauma training for criminal justice officials, stronger health care for women in custody and victim-centered alternatives to prosecution focusing on rehabilitation instead of punishment.