The author puts forward two key propositions. First, the current broad policy and practice platform does not provide a cohesive and targeted approach. Rather, it is an ill-fitting and flawed "package" based on the model for male offenders; it is applied and in some respects adjusted to try to make it fit women offenders. Second, gender is thus the fundamental but largely ignored issue. There must be a fundamental reform in the way women offenders are managed in general and particularly as regards the role and use of imprisonment. Several issues are then raised by the author to support these propositions. It first highlights the neglect of women offenders, specifically prisoners, by mainstream criminology and corrections. Second, significant negative effects of current approaches are illustrated by using two examples: that of indigenous women as prisoners, who face a double social disadvantage; and mothers as prisoners, many of whom have primary care responsibilities for their children. This paper concludes that the current notion of imprisonment for women is incongruent and that a global review of the accepted theories, models, policy, and practice is required to develop a comprehensive, just, and effective management strategy for women offenders. 30 references