13th March 2013
Women in Prison supports and campaigns for women affected by the criminal justice system in the UK and has recently published State of the Estate: Report on the women’s custodial estate 2011-2012.
This report is the first assessment of compliance with the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) since they were adopted in 2010, and reveals a significant gap between policy and practice in the implementation of the rules in the UK.
The report also highlights the severity of mental health issues facing a large proportion of women prisoners in the UK and the lack of structured care in place to deal with their needs. The lack of financial and practical investment in this, and other, areas is seen to have very real consequences as self-harming rates remain high across the female prison estate, as do reoffending rates, especially for women receiving short custodial sentences.
Finally, data on the UK’s female prison estate is presented in the form of a fact file and this data is brought to life by the writings of women describing their daily, lived experience as ‘residents’ in each of the prisons.
The full report can be read here.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.