§ Mr. A. BENNETTasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the assertions of the Commissioners of Prisons, in their Report for 1921–22, that women once committed to prison return again and again; and whether, under these circumstances, he will consider the desirability of investigating the whole matter by female experts who, in these days of sex emancipation, may have their own views as to causes and treatment?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANThe passage quoted from the Prison Commissioners' Report obviously related to a section only of the women prisoners. I have made inquiry, and I find that women constantly reconvicted are almost entirely of the drunken and prostitute class, and that2636W if offences in connection with prostitution and drink are eliminated, the proportion of recidivists among women would certainly be no greater than it is among men. The problem of the best method of dealing with women convicted of such offences is an extremely difficult one, but I doubt whether an investigation of the kind suggested in the latter part of the question would be likely to serve any useful purpose.