TROUBLED INSIDE
Female prisoners are much more likely to self-harm and incidents are rising
RATES of self-harm among female prisoners hit a record high during the pandemic. There were 11,988 self-harm incidents in 2020 among women in prison in England and Wales - up from 11,931 in 2019, Ministry of Justice statistics show.
When the size of the prison population is taken into account, that was the equivalent of 3,566 incidents for every 1,000 women prisoners last year.
That was up by 13%, from 3,144 incidents per 1,000 in 2019, and the highest rate since at least 2004, when comparable records began.
At the same time, the number of incidents in male prisons decreased by 16% from 51,691 to 43,554.
Rates of self-harm in women’s prisons are around six times higher than in men’s prisons.
There were 566 incidents per 1,000 prisoners in the male estate in 2020.
That was down from 653 incidents per 1,000 prisoners in December 2019.
The most common method for self-harm in prison was cutting or scratching - 52% of females and 71% of males self-harmed by cutting or scratching in 2020.
Dr Kate Paradine, chief executive of Women in Prison said: “This devastating rise in selfharm highlights the worryingly rapid decline of mental health for women in prison.
“Women have been harming themselves more often during the pandemic as a way of managing increased stress, low mood and anxiety.
“Many women haven’t seen their families in person for over a year, and are confined to their cells for up to 22.5 hours a day.
“This is compounded by the removal of the usual coping strategies, such as talking to friends during meals and access to group sessions.
“The devastating effects that coronavirus has had on women is not simply a byproduct of the pandemic but of prison itself. Strict regimes have exposed prisons for what they are and that is never a place of safety.
“It’s baffling then that the Government has announced plans to build 500 new prison places for women, despite the rise in selfharm and its own strategy acknowledging most women simply do not need to be there.
“There is another way, one that we know works. To reverse this worrying trend the Government can stop the 500 new women’s prison places, instead investing in community-based services, like Women’s Centres, that support women to tackle the issues that sweep them into crime in the first place, like domestic abuse and poverty."
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