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23 Nov 2023

Agenda Alliance and Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ) have today (23rd November 2023) published a new briefing paper, A Call to Action, spotlighting the severe mental health problems facing young women in our prisons.

As self-harm in women’s prisons has skyrocketed, young women aged 21 to 24 have been found to be the worst affected age group, according to new analysis.

Political debate has mostly focused on men in prison, following a high-profile prison escape and continued overcrowding crisis. The BBC’s new Time TV drama series has highlighted the damage caused by short sentences on women, especially mothers, and their families and mental health. Policy affecting daily life in jails consistently overlooks the distinct and extremely serious problems of women and girls in prison. Meanwhile, recent Ministry of Justice figures show that self-harm incidents among women in prison rose by 65% in the year up until June 2023.

The new briefing paper, A Call to Action, highlights evidence that:

  • In 2022, the number of self-harm incidents in custody amongst 21 to 24-year-old women surpassed all other female age groups
  • Over the previous four years, self-harm among this particular group of young women has been consistently rising
  • In 2022, 138 young women aged 21 to 24 self-harmed while in prison. On average, these young women self-harmed 34 times during the year.

As yet, it’s impossible, because of government data gaps, to provide an accurate breakdown by age of self-harm incidents in the year to June 2023. Agenda Alliance is pushing for the government to more effectively capture and publish this data.

Ruby* is from a Muslim background, and took part in the Young Women’s Justice Project:

"I went to prison when I was 21 years-old, up until than I had no history of self-harm although I suffered domestic violence throughout my entire childhood and teens from the hands of my family. When I reached out to prison officers, I was told ‘You’ll be alright.’ There was no help on offer, nothing. I started contemplating self-harm. I was left to deal with my traumatic past of abuse on my own. This was made worse because Muslim women don’t go to prison. There is so much stigma and shame in my community when a Muslim woman does go to prison. My only coping mechanism was to turn to what I had known throughout my life, ‘pain’. So that’s what I did, inflicted pain on myself. I knew self-harm is forbidden in Islam, but nothing was making sense, this added more guilt and shame because I was thinking that was my only way out. No-one should ever go through what I went through."

Despite a patchwork of linked vulnerabilities, young women’s specific mental health and social needs whilst in prison are shown in this briefing to be left unaddressed. A Call to Action suggests they suffer from being a minority within a minority, leaving them invisible.

According to government, 3570 women are currently in prison, women of all ages form around 4% of the overall prison population. In 2022, there were 277 young women aged 18 - 24 in custody (out of 3186 women overall) – in other words, this young age group form 9% of all women in jail.

In the Independent, Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor called self-harm figures for women of all ages in prison, ‘just absolutely staggering’.

Indy Cross, Chief Executive of Agenda Alliance:

"Burying our heads in the sand and pretending this isn’t a problem won’t wash. The shocking levels of self-harm among some of the most vulnerable women must serve as a wake-up call; they’re unacceptable. We don’t need more reports. Government and experts all know the impact of traumatic histories – and we can see that too many young women keep falling through gaps.

It’s vital that those who hold the keys to change - including politicians, policy makers and future police and crime commissioners – listen to women who’ve been through the justice system, including those with further disadvantages such as those who’ve been in care, or come from Black, Asian and minoritised backgrounds.[IC1] Girls and young women must be heard instead of harmed. They can identify the best community solutions, such as the many brilliant examples ranging from specialist women’s probation hubs, creative programmes against violence and abuse and culturally specific projects for women – as highlighted in our briefing paper. Instead of failing a whole generation of women, every woman should have the chance to thrive. Breaking complicated cycles of harm is essential- it benefits all of us."

The new briefing paper also spotlights racial disproportionality in the justice system for young women from Black, Asian and minoritised backgrounds. 15% of young women in custody identify as Muslim, compared to 6.5% of the general population. It raises concerns about young women from all backgrounds reporting a lack of mental health care by prison staff.

Pippa Goodfellow, Chief Executive of Alliance for Youth Justice:

"Having been failed by numerous public services, young women report being trapped in a damaging cycle of abuse, inequality, and offending. Young women are a minority within the criminal justice system on account of both their age and gender, leaving them overlooked and disregarded. Caught in a system designed around the needs of men, is it any wonder that so many young women feel unsafe and retraumatised, as they are driven into further harm? This report is a call to action to ensure that the needs of young women are no longer sidelined by the services and systems with responsibility for their support. Young women are clear about the change that is required, which should serve as a rallying call to finally prioritise them in strategy and joined-up action to meet their needs."

Agenda Alliance and Alliance for Youth Justice demand:

  • Collaboration with young women who have experience of the criminal justice system to design future policy – including the forthcoming Young Women’s Strategy
  • That government ends a young woman’s 18th birthday being an arbitrary cut-off point for vital support services, such as mental health provision. Ensure continuous services for young women who have been in care as children to stop them falling through gaps
  • All government departments should ring-fence funding for culturally-responsive specialist support responding to the needs of Black, Asian, Minoritised and migratised young women and girls, with further funds for organisations which are led ‘by-and-for' these communities
  • Training for police to understand the impact of abuse and trauma which drives offending. Police should be encouraged to use specialist services in the community so that prison is a last resort
  • Data on safety in custody must routinely provide a breakdown by age, as well as gender, for increased transparency.

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