Is Prison the Answer for Women?

Many women in prison have been victims of much more serious offences than those they are accused of committing. Over half the women in prison report having suffered domestic abuse with 53% of women reporting having experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse as a child. 

The aim of this event is to discuss the impacts and realities a custodial sentence has on women in the criminal justice system. 

This informative discussion and panel will include:  

Karen Horner – CEO of Tomorrows Women 
In Cheshire West, Chester and the Wirral – Charity Tomorrows Women (TW) work tirelessly to provide free of charge courses, activities, and support sessions to enable woman to be more aware of issues or address their needs such as emotional wellbeing, domestic abuse, substance misuse, poverty or improve social inclusion.  TW now has over 13,000 members and this number continues to increase. 

Dr Gill Buck – Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Chester
Gill Buck is Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Chester and Principal Investigator on the £1.1m multi-national study: Imagining Possible Futures, Activating Lived Experience in Criminal Justice. Gill will draw on (collaborative) pilot studies with formerly imprisoned women to consider how centring the agency, voices and potential of criminalised women could empower women and help to make criminal justice responses more fit for purpose. 

Chaired by Chantelle Lunt
Chantelle Lunt is a writer, lecturer, PhD researcher, and activist. She has a professional background in policing and children’s social care, her PhD research explores the further educational journeys of care-experienced individuals. As the Chair of Merseyside Alliance for Racial Equality CIC (MARE), she leads grassroots, community-driven education initiatives that promote racial equality across Merseyside. Chantelle is also Halewood’s Deputy Mayor and a Knowsley Borough Councillor, making history as the first Black woman elected to these positions. 

With a strong commitment to social justice, Chantelle’s work spans political, academic, and activist spaces, advocating for meaningful change in education, policing, and racial equality.