18/12/2017 15:45:00
The latest edition of the Prison Reform Trust's Bromley briefings prison factfile highlights in facts and figures the consequences of a punitive political arms race over criminal justice policy over the past three decades. Steep cuts to prison staff and budgets in recent years have exposed the fault lines of a failed approach. The result is an overcrowded and overstretched prison system where standards of safety and decency are way below international expectations.
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04/12/2017 15:39:00
Women in prison have often been victims of much more serious offences than those of which they have been convicted, a new report published today by the Prison Reform Trust reveals.
57% of women in prison report having been victims of domestic violence. More than half (53%) report having experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse as a child compared to 27% of men.
Because many women fear disclosing abuse, both figures are likely to be an underestimate. The charity Women in Prison report that 79% of the women who use their services have experienced domestic violence and/or sexual abuse.
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01/12/2017 15:35:00
Enabling people in prison to take responsibility for day to day life behind bars encourages a greater sense of autonomy and self-respect and contributes to better decision making by prison managers, according to a new report published today (1 December) by the Prison Reform Trust.
The report outlines the findings of PRT’s innovative active citizensprogramme, launched in 2015 with the kind support of the Milo & Violet Cripps Charitable Trust. Additional support from the Bromley Trust and the Sir James Reckitt Charity will allow PRT to take the programme to more prisons in the coming year.
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20/11/2017 15:31:00
The Prison Reform Trust has published Triage and diversion: Getting it Right 24/7, the report of a seminar held with Police Scotland earlier this year to consider the benefits and opportunities of early interventions for women. The briefing will inform an event in Edinburgh on Monday 27 November entitled Creating A Diversion—ending unnecessary imprisonment and punishment of women in the criminal justice system. The event is organised by the Scottish Working Group on Women Offenders together with the Prison Reform Trust and WFI Justice for Women, supported by Community Justice Scotland.
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31/08/2017 15:26:00
Black and mixed ethnicity women are more than twice as likely as white women in the general population to be arrested, according to a new report published today (31 August) by the Prison Reform Trust.
Black women are also more likely than other women to be remanded or sentenced to custody, and are 25% more likely than white women to receive a custodial sentence following a conviction, the report reveals. Black, Asian and minority ethnic women make up 11.9% of the women’s population in England and Wales, but account for 18% of the women’s prison population.
The Lammy Review, chaired by David Lammy MP, is an independent review commissioned by the Prime Minister of the treatment of, and outcomes for, Black, Asian and minority ethnic individuals in the criminal justice system.
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