Stories of Injustice: The Criminalisation of Women Convicted under Joint Enterprise Laws

Link to Full Text

"Joint enterprise (JE) is a set of legal principles grounded in common law and originating from Victorian times. They have re-emerged in the last two decades allowing for the collective punishments of many hundreds of people (McClenaghan et al, 2014). Through principles of common purpose, foresight and intent multiple individuals can be convicted for one offence, without taking account of the differing roles played; that some may not have participated or been present when the incident occurred; and were not aware that the offence was likely to happen....

This report uncovers new data related to the useof JE against women and significantly, presents qualitative accounts of the experience, harms and impact of such JE laws on women."

Making Restorative Justice Work for Women who have Offended
"This study addresses a major gap in research and knowledge regarding female offenders' experiences of, and access to, restorative justice.... This study is of a qualitative nature and draws on interview data first collected with restorative justice practitioners who had experience of working with women in restorative justice contexts and second, with women who had personal experience of going through a restorative justice conference from an offender perspective.  The data collection remit was restricted to England and Wales.  The ultimate objective of the project was to develop an evidence-based set of recommendations for effective and ethical working with women in restorative justice frameworks, with a view to increasing the number of female offenders accessing restorative justice, as well as to ensure that those women who do take part have a positive experience of it."