Discrimination against women is not confined to the work situation

The Scottish Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee met in early November to re-examine the sentencing of women

The committee learned that women's experiences of the criminal justice system are different from men's and that some of these differences may stem from or result in discrimination or inequality.

The committee recommended:

"the Scottish Government should explain how they will address the issue of women being more harshly sentenced than men"

Additionally -
"While the report's focus is on female offenders, this does not mean that the committee is not interested in male offenders or that it considers female offenders should be treated more favourably than male offenders."


Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said:
"It's clear that more and more people, including this committee, are agreeing with the Scottish Government's position that prison should only be for the serious offenders who commit the serious crimes.

"That's why we have been working hard to ensure more low level offenders are given the chance to address the underlying causes of their behaviour rather than serve ineffective short jail sentences."


'Female offenders in the criminal justice system'