Women prisoners in England and Wales need a kinder introduction to jail to reduce suicide and self-harm, a report by the Howard League for Penal Reform claims today.
The charity calls for conditions to be improved during the first two days of incarceration to ease the immediate impact on vulnerable women.
Half of prisoners who take their own lives do so during the first month of incarceration. The Care, Concern and Carpets report calls on the Prison Service to introduce special centres where prisoners would spend their first 48 hours behind bars. The rooms would be furnished in a friendlier way and would provide for contact with families and children, following examples set by Holloway prison in London, and Styal prison in Cheshire. In the three years to 2004, 36 female prisoners committed suicide, compared to 40 in the previous 23 years. An estimated 80 per cent of female prisoners suffer from mental health problems.