UK gov announces £31.6M support for female offenders

The UK government has just announced a £31.6 million funding boost specifically for female offenders, aimed at diverting them away from prison and into support services like housing, addiction treatment, and employment help.

According to the press release, the justification is that many women in the system are “vulnerable”, often victims of abuse, and that addressing root causes will reduce reoffending.

But here’s the obvious question:

Why is this support explicitly gendered?

Men make up the overwhelming majority of the prison population, reoffenders, and rough sleepers, yet we don’t see equivalent, headline-grabbing funding packages framed around helping male offenders as victims of circumstance. The UK and it's anti-male bias at work again!