Assaults in women’s prisons triple in a decade to hit record high, with more violence than men’s jails

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “It is totally unacceptable and we call on HMPPS and government to deal with it robustly so that our members are safe at work.” Self-harm has also skyrocketed in women’s prisons by 38 per cent to a new peak of 5,988 incidents per 1,000 prisoners – 10 times higher than in the men’s prison estate, despite self-harm and suicide both rising among men too, with 90 men dying by suicide in the past year. Self-inflicted deaths, self-harm and assaults are all up,” said Ms Sinha, adding: “We are failing these women and the staff that work with them.” open image in gallery ‘There can be no more excuses’ on government commitment to reduce female prison population, a charity boss warns Katie*, who was seven weeks pregnant and on anti-depressants when she was sent to prison, told The Independent: “On arrival I was told I needed to wait to see the routine doctor. Prison worsens these problems, heaping homelessness, unemployment and child removal onto the complex set of problems they already face.” open image in gallery Some prison officers are facing ‘life-changing injuries’, the Prison Officers Association said Describing assaults as “a regrettable flipside of unaddressed mental health problems, lack of meaningful activity” and trauma-informed staff training, Ms Cross warned that without tailored support “these kinds of figures will persist”. Ms Kitchen added: “But we mustn’t only look at what’s happening inside the prisons – we need investment in mental health services in the community too, so prison is not used as a ‘place of safety’ for want of alternatives, and so that women can get the support they need when they need it, to avoid criminalisation in the first place.” Warning that “our prisons are at breaking point”, Ruth Cadbury, Labour’s shadow prisons minister, told The Independent that the rise in violence was “yet another sign of the crisis across our prison estate, with both prison staff and prisoners at serious risk”.