How the number of women being arrested is surging faster than men

The number of females being arrested is surging faster than the number of males, driven by violent and sex crimes, new figures have revealed.

Home Office data published yesterday showed the number of women and girls detained in England and Wales in the year to March jumped 12 per cent compared with the previous year to almost 114,000.

There were significant increases in the number of females held for violence, robbery and even sex offences.

By comparison there was a seven per cent rise in the number of males arrested, with 603,000 during the year.

The figures were released just two days after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood unveiled plans to slash the number of women in jail, as she insisted ‘prison isn’t working’ for female offenders.

Her remarks amounted to a reversal of then-Tory home secretary Michael Howard’s famous ‘prison works’ mantra from 30 years ago.

Women offenders could be housed in ‘residential centres’ instead of behind bars, while other criminal charges against female offenders could be ‘resolved before they go to court’, the Labour Party conference in Liverpool heard.

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‘It is high time we stopped sending so many women to prison,’ Ms Mahmood said.

‘For women, prison isn’t working.’

There are currently 3,453 women in jail in England and Wales – more than double the number three decades ago.

Ms Mahmood noted that two-thirds of women prisoners are inside for non-violent crimes.

The new figures showed forces in England and Wales made 720,506 arrests in the year to March, up eight per cent from the previous 12 months, and the highest number since 2017.

Some forces used ‘other’ categorisations for the gender of arrestees.

It is unclear why the number of females being arrested is on the rise.

But David Spencer, head of crime and justice at the Policy Exchange think-tank, said the overall increase was likely to be down to the previous Conservative government’s recruitment of 20,000 police officers.

Police numbers in England and Wales stood at a record 147,746 at the end of March.

‘This suggests the 20,000 additional police officers are starting to lead to more arrests,’ Mr Spencer said.

‘That reflects positively on the decision of Boris Johnson’s government to increase police numbers.’

The Home Office figures showed the largest percentage increase for females was seen in arrests for robbery, which jumped by 29 per cent from 403 to 1,783.

There was also a large rise in the number of females held for sexual offences, which rose 27 per cent from 237 to 1,124.

The overall increase in the number of females arrested was driven by a surge in ‘violence against the person’, which was up by 6,541 to 63,188, or 12 per cent.

Across all arrests – regardless of gender – theft saw the largest percentage increase, up 14 per cent to 100,707.

The overall number of arrests was still far below pre-austerity levels of 1.4million a year.

The Metropolitan Police bucked the trend and arrested three per cent fewer people in the year to March at just over 96,000 – the eighth successive year the force recorded a fall.

Separate figures on ‘stop and search’ by police showed the overall number in the year to March was down 2.1 per cent to just over 535,000, while the number which led to an arrest rose slightly to 14.2 per cent of all searches.