Discriminatory treatment of women offenders

In the UK, by far the majority of women offenders are sentenced for theft-related crimes or non-payment of fines. Women are almost three times more likely to be imprisoned for a first offence than men, and a far higher percentage of women are remanded in custody to await social or psychiatric reports. They are more likely to be refused bail or be punished in jail for trivial offences. On release, they are frequently regarded as unfit mothers or classified as victims who were led astray.