9. - Locked Away

Summary

A disproportionate number of women in prison have mental health problems and they are nine times more likely to die from suicide than women in the general population. They have insufficient access to help both inside where the focus has largely been on men, and outside where they often lack suitable help and support on release. For many women, improsionment is a tragedy that damages them, their families and the next generation, some of whom are born in prison, where giving birth can be particularly traumatic and potentially lethal. And men cannot be forgotten by women who are in prison, because many of them are in prison because of the actions of a man. However, it is crucial not to assume that ‘trauma’ explains all of their problems, particularly some kinds of violent behaviour. We need to keep many more women out of prison and try to help women much earlier along their life paths, long before they go to prison. Mental health care provides too little, too late. We must challenge our own stigmatising attitudes towards women in prison, support those NGOs who work tirelessly with women in the criminal justice system and advocate much more powerfully for women in prison.