What can women’s problem-solving courts deliver?

As a part of the mannequin, girls are required to attend common evaluation hearings held at certainly one of three Magistrates’ Courts; Larger Manchester, Stockport, or Bolton, typically through distant video hyperlink (CVP) from Girls’s Centres. This digital format helps accommodate these dealing with obstacles corresponding to journey, childcare, or court-related anxiousness. Evaluations are supposed to be casual and strengths-based, specializing in a progress report ready by the Probation practitioner and discussing objectives set on the preliminary listening to. Whereas non-attendance shouldn’t set off punitive measures corresponding to breach, some companions would request and/or counsel that these critiques could possibly be necessary, by aligning them with Probation appointments. Many ladies interviewed believed that lacking a evaluation might result in breach and imprisonment.

How do these courts function in apply?

How are girls truly experiencing them?

And the place is there room for enchancment?

These had been the central questions guiding our current qualitative analysis of the GMWPSC, detailed in our newly launched report: Listening to Girls, Studying for Justice. Over a two-year interval, we explored the affect and worth of the GMWPSC mannequin by gathering insights from girls who participated within the course of, in addition to probation practitioners and magistrates. We carried out 57 hours of court docket observations and examined court docket environments to higher perceive the sensory expertise for girls accessing court docket areas, put up sentencing.

Key findings

On the coronary heart of our analysis had been the voices of ladies who had taken half in GMWPSC critiques. Their testimonies revealed each the strengths of the mannequin and the challenges it presents. Whereas many appreciated the consistency and recognition that PSCs provided, they overwhelmingly emphasised the transformative help supplied by probation practitioners and Girls’s Centres.

The courtroom surroundings was typically described as intimidating and stigmatising. The formal setting and emotionally charged ambiance left some girls feeling judged and overwhelmed. When girls attended in individual to court docket, they confronted a panel of three magistrates, a authorized advisor, and a probation officer, with little to no advocacy on their aspect. This elevated the facility imbalance girls felt throughout the evaluation, which considerably formed their notion of justice and the relevancy of the evaluation. Girls had been requested to share three phrases that they’d use to explain their experiences of accessing GMWPSCs. The numerous perceptions could be seen throughout the phrase cloud under.