Maggie Mellon of the WFI National Committee and WFI #Justicewatch argues that WFI need to stand firm and that prisons are not the answer. Many WFI women who have support our campaign for justice for women will have read of the newly released plans for prisons for women in Scotland. These are to replace the super-prison which we campaigned so successfully against last year. Did they sound really nice? A cross between hospital and student halls...

In this second part of her #JusticeWatch blog Maggie Mellon reflects on women accused of domestic abuse. There were three women listed as having been in police custody over the weekend or part of it, and friendly court staff told us that hey would not be up till the afternoon. Before that there were all those listed to appear in one of the 8 court rooms devoted to sheriff summary proceedings. We spent the morning sitting in the courts in which...

Maggie Mellon on Day 1 of Justice Watch. The day started for me with a trip to BBC Scotland’s Edinburgh studio at 7.30 for a quick interview on the Good Morning show about the launch of Justice Watch that day. What are our plans? To do what it says on the tin and just watch justice, for women, in our courts. Women for Indy was, I explained, going in to see why and how Scotland imprisons women at a higher rate than than any other country in the...