The women's prison population in the UK stands at about 5,000. It has nearly doubled over the last ten years even though the nature and seriousness of women's offending has not been getting worse. The men's prison population has risen by 50% over the same period. It is the case that women are rarely serious, violent offenders and they generally pose little risk to public safety. The evidence shows that the courts are imposing more severe sentences on women for less serious offences.
The Prison Service currently runs 17 women prisons. Life in prison for women follows similar procedures to those for male prisoners. There are, however, a number of important differences in women's needs whilst in prison.
- Offences: Women tend to commit less crime and their offences are generally less serious. Around 17% of women go to prison for violent offences compared with 24% of men. The top two offences for women sentenced to prison in 2001 were theft from shops (2,400) and fraud (490). Many women prisoners could therefore be eligible for alternative sentences. However women are twice as likely as men to be sent to prison for a first-time offence.
- Foreign Nationals: Some 20% of the women in prison are foreign nationals compared to about 11% of the men.
- Drugs: Women tend to have a different type of drug use from men with a higher level of hard drug use.
- Family: Women are normally the Primary Carers for elderly relatives and children. Around 55% of women in prison have children under 16 and over one-third have a child under five while two-thirds have children under ten. It is estimated that 8000 children in the UK are affected every year by the imprisonment of their mother.
- Distance from Home: Because of the smaller number of women's prisons, women tend to be further away from their homes which makes the important links with family more difficult.
- Healthcare: While medical care for all prisoners is poor, the situation is far worse for women prisoners. Because prison health care systems were created for men, routine gynaecological care, such as pap smears, breast exams and mammograms, is rare in prisons. Care is frequently only administered once the situation becomes an emergency. With the advent of HIV infection and AIDS, a new problem has arisen for women prisoners. HIV and AIDS have specific manifestations in women, and the prison environment may considerably complicate proper administration of medical care and follow-up for women with HIV.
- Mental Health: In one study over 66% of women in prison were assessed as having a neurotic disorder such as depression, anxiety and phobias. The comparable figure in the community is less than 20%. Half are taking some form of medication for mental health problems. Almost half were drug-dependent in the year before entering prison
- Self-inflicted Deaths: The self-inflicted death rates for women in prisons increased from 1 in 1993 to 9 in 2002.
- Self-Injury: Women account for over 25% of self-harm incidents in prison, although they are only 6% of the prison population.
- Security: Women generally present lower risks than men. Women's prisons do not experience as many serious incidents, although the rate of adjudications is higher.
"If you're scared shitless you're never going to admit it and the last person you're going to admit it to is you. I've been hit many times by screws and still laughed - with my teeth hanging out still grinned at them. You might have got all the bumps and lumps but psychologically you're the winner. When they come in next time they're going to come in double strength. You tend to just grin but inside you're literally weeping to death but you just daren't let them know 'cause otherwise they would win, they would have got you." JoUK government policy on women in prison is contradictory. There is an understanding that there is a problem, evidenced by the publication by the Home Office in March 2004 of the Women's Offending Reduction Programme action plan which aims to "strategically link efforts across government to reduce women's offending and to pursue alternatives to custodial sentences for women." In March 2005 the Home Secretary's announced that £9.15million would be provided for two pilot community centres as alternatives to custody for women offenders. In November 2005 Baroness Scotland announced a 'review' of vulnerable women in the criminal justice system.
UK government policy on women in prison is contradictory. There is an understanding that there is a problem, evidenced by the publication by the Home Office in March 2004 of the Women's Offending Reduction Programme action plan which aims to "strategically link efforts across government to reduce women's offending and to pursue alternatives to custodial sentences for women." In March 2005 the Home Secretary's announced that £9.15million would be provided for two pilot community centres as alternatives to custody for women offenders. In November 2005 Baroness Scotland announced a 'review' of vulnerable women in the criminal justice system.UK government policy on women in prison is contradictory. There is an understanding that there is a problem, evidenced by the publication by the Home Office in March 2004 of the Women's Offending Reduction Programme action plan which aims to "strategically link efforts across government to reduce women's offending and to pursue alternatives to custodial sentences for women." In March 2005 the Home Secretary's announced that £9.15million would be provided for two pilot community centres as alternatives to custody for women offenders. In November 2005 Baroness Scotland announced a 'review' of vulnerable women in the criminal justice system.UK government policy on women in prison is contradictory. There is an understanding that there is a problem, evidenced by the publication by the Home Office in March 2004 of the Women's Offending Reduction Programme action plan which aims to "strategically link efforts across government to reduce women's offending and to pursue alternatives to custodial sentences for women." In March 2005 the Home Secretary's announced that £9.15million would be provided for two pilot community centres as alternatives to custody for women offenders. In November 2005 Baroness Scotland announced a 'review' of vulnerable women in the criminal justice system.UK government policy on women in prison is contradictory. There is an understanding that there is a problem, evidenced by the publication by the Home Office in March 2004 of the Women's Offending Reduction Programme action plan which aims to "strategically link efforts across government to reduce women's offending and to pursue alternatives to custodial sentences for women." In March 2005 the Home Secretary's announced that £9.15million would be provided for two pilot community centres as alternatives to custody for women offenders. In November 2005 Baroness Scotland announced a 'review' of vulnerable women in the criminal justice system.UK government policy on women in prison is contradictory. There is an understanding that there is a problem, evidenced by the publication by the Home Office in March 2004 of the Women's Offending Reduction Programme action plan which aims to "strategically link efforts across government to reduce women's offending and to pursue alternatives to custodial sentences for women." In March 2005 the Home Secretary's announced that £9.15million would be provided for two pilot community centres as alternatives to custody for women offenders. In November 2005 Baroness Scotland announced a 'review' of vulnerable women in the criminal justice system.
"It was 23½ hours bang up in there. When you went down to get your dinner and take it back to your cell, you'd see a sign saying 'Do you want education' Learn to read and write. Go and see the Education Officer. - You couldn't get out of your bloody cell door to go and see them." Laura
However other policy is less progressive, such as the recent opening of two new privately run prisons for women. In 2000 the Prison Service had announced that tender documents had been sent to the private sector seeking bids to establish new prisons for women, despite reformist arguments for a rapid reduction in the use of imprisonment for women offenders. The findings of an independent committee of inquiry into women's imprisonment, Justice for Women: the Need for Reform, claimed that the majority of women offenders have not committed a serious offence and do not represent a threat to public safety. The Report also argued that imprisoning women, many of whom have been abused, attempted suicide and spent time in local authority care, only serves to exacerbate their problems and marginalise them still further from society. HMP Bronzefield, a 450-bed purpose-designed prison for women, opened in June 2004 and HMP Peterborough opened in March 2005. These large institutions, taking women from across the country, are the antithesis of the small local units previously recommended. Furthermore from April 2004, women's prisons moved back under geographical line management raising concerns that the specific needs of women prisoners would again be overlooked by area managers who may only have one or two women's prisons in their region.
My daughter, she stopped growing for a time, her hair fell out. And I used to get a telephone call to home instead of visiting and when I spoke to them it's as if I am speaking to somebody else. Even the letters that they wrote - my son used to say things to me like "I've gone to another planet". And I used to think he was going mad. And the eldest boy, he wouldn't write. He just refused to write to me....I used to cry and cry and cry because I hated them coming to see me because it used to cut me up inside. (Rene)
Separation from children and concern for their care is often one of the greatest sources of anxiety and stress for female prisoners, while visiting with children often is extremely difficult or impossible. A study of women prisoners in mother and baby units (MBUs) in England and Wales in 2003 found a number of shortcomings in service provision. The research showed that women in prison MBUs were likely to be at high risk of mental disorder, and that their treatment needs were likely to be unrecognised. When the study took place, there were four prisons with MBUs, providing a total of 64 places in England and Wales. Places were allocated by an admissions panel, and the placement had to be in the best interests of the child. In this study, 93% of prisoners in MBUs were interviewed between July and December 2003. It was found that 60% had one or more of the five diagnostic categories of mental disorder (psychosis, personality disorder, neurotic disorders, drug abuse and hazardous alcohol use). Only three participants in the study were receiving any treatment for mental health problems. Some mothers with treatable mental disorders may not have obtained places on MBUs. The inmate medical record appeared to contain very little information about the mother's mental health. A significant proportion of mothers (30%) in the study suffered from undiagnosed depression. Without treatment, this would have affected the mother's ability to function effectively, and could have had an adverse effect on the child's development.
A lot of girls on C wing cut their arms up, cut their bodies up. I don't think I've seen so much blood and scars. They mutilated their bodies. They were frustrated. And all you heard the officer say was "Oh dear she's attempting, she's seeking attention again". I said "I don't believe you people". I used to say "Well you,re women too, don't you understand?" And they walk around with their keys, they were so key happy. They look at you as if you were just the scum of the earth. I used to say "There must be somebody out there that you love and would you treat them the way you treat us?" (Bella)
Recent inquest verdicts on suicides in women's prisons have highlighted failings in prison regimes. The tragic suicide figures represent only the tip of the iceberg of distress and self-harm in women's prisons. In 2004 it was reported that Officers at HMP Holloway are cutting down five women a day from nooses and for every death there are hundreds of potentially fatal attempts. It cannot be reasonably claimed that vulnerable women will get appropriate care and treatment inside.
I keep asking myself - Is the prison service equipped to care for someone as vulnerable as Jolene? Based on the evidence heard throughout Jolene's inquest, I don't think they are. The way to deal with people who have a history of minor offences as a result of drug-use, is not to keep locking them up.
Separation from children and concern for their care is often one of the greatest sources of anxiety and stress for female prisoners, while visiting with children often is extremely difficult or impossible. A study of women prisoners in mother and baby units (MBUs) in England and Wales in 2003 found a number of shortcomings in service provision. The research showed that women in prison MBUs were likely to be at high risk of mental disorder, and that their treatment needs were likely to be unrecognised. When the study took place, there were four prisons with MBUs, providing a total of 64 places in England and Wales. Places were allocated by an admissions panel, and the placement had to be in the best interests of the child. In this study, 93% of prisoners in MBUs were interviewed between July and December 2003. It was found that 60% had one or more of the five diagnostic categories of mental disorder (psychosis, personality disorder, neurotic disorders, drug abuse and hazardous alcohol use). Only three participants in the study were receiving any treatment for mental health problems. Some mothers with treatable mental disorders may not have obtained places on MBUs. The inmate medical record appeared to contain very little information about the mother's mental health. A significant proportion of mothers (30%) in the study suffered from undiagnosed depression. Without treatment, this would have affected the mother's ability to function effectively, and could have had an adverse effect on the child's development.
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