Today, 1st October 2026, the Government's early release scheme comes into effect.

Our position is clear: this scheme should not go ahead in its current form.

On 17th September, Imkaan wrote to Alex Davies-Jones MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims and VAWG, setting out our concerns about the scheme and its implications for Black and minoritised women and girls.

We welcome the exclusion of rape, certain child sexual offences and other serious offences from early release. But significant gaps remain. People convicted of stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour and non-fatal strangulation can still be released early. These offences are rarely one-off acts. They are part of ongoing patterns of abuse, intimidation and control.

We are also deeply concerned about the capacity of probation services to safely manage additional releases, and about the lack of meaningful collaboration with specialist 'by and for' organisations.

The Government has committed to halving violence against women and girls within a decade. That commitment cannot be reconciled with a policy that moves risk from the state onto women, children and communities.

“Today, many victim-survivors will be living with increased fear and uncertainty as the early release scheme goes ahead. Concerns about probation capacity have not been answered and serious questions remain about how risk has been assessed before release. For those whose safety depends on these systems working, that is deeply troubling. Perpetrators of domestic abuse-related offences including stalking, coercive control and non-fatal strangulation remain eligible for early release. Prison capacity cannot be addressed by transferring risk from the state onto women, children and communities.

For Black and minoritised women who already face barriers to accessing the police, housing and specialist support, the consequences of insufficient risk assessment can be irreversible. There must be transparency about how decisions are being made, what safeguards are in place and how survivors are being protected. If we are serious about halving violence against women and girls within a decade, women and girls must be able to feel safe in their own homes and communities. Their safety must remain at the heart of every decision.”

-Ghadah Alnasseri, Executive Director, Imkaan

We are calling on the Government to:

1. Add domestic abuse-related offences, including stalking, coercive control and non-fatal strangulation, to the list of excluded offences

2. Establish a robust, independently scrutinised safeguarding and risk-management framework as a condition of continuing releases, and publish an Equality Impact Assessment of the scheme

3. Provide sustained, ring-fenced investment in specialist 'by and for' VAWG services and community-based provision

4. Ensure clear, timely and trauma-informed communication with victim-survivors
   

Read the letter

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