On 26 June 2019 – a very hot and busy Parliamentary day- three Woking Soroptimists took part in the OPEN UP Mass Lobby organised by Women in Prison (WIP). The date coincided with the first anniversary of the Strategy for Female Offenders and the action was intended to promote the implementation of the strategy. [More about this at www.womeninprison.org.uk].
We went with representatives of the Woking Women’s Support Centre to the Houses of Parliament for a meeting scheduled with our local MP, Jonathan Lord. Supporting the campaign on 26 June meant not only an opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of implementing the new Strategy for Female Offenders, but also to meet some of the 200 Mass Lobby participants, including one of our sister Soroptimists from SI Yorkshire. And an opportunity to see the New Dawn window installed in the Houses of Parliament last year to commemorate the centenary of women getting the vote.
So will this year see a new dawn for women offenders that really helps them to address the root causes of their offending?
More information about the campaign here