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Frustrations about a lack of basic care lead women in prison to self-harm

Published:

Prisons are not doing enough to help women cope in prison and for some, the lack of care to meet their basic needs causes such distress that they resort to harming themselves, according to a new report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons.

The research, carried out in four women’s prisons in England, found that officers too often failed to provide enough support, women struggled to keep in contact with their loved ones and too many spent long periods locked in their cell with nothing to do. There were also astonishing gaps in basic decency and an overreliance on using physical force to manage women in acute and obvious crisis.

The rate of self-harm among women in prison has rocketed in the last 10 years and is now 8.5 times higher than in men’s jails. This report found that, in many cases, it was the frustrations of day-to-day life in prison and a lack of basic care that were causing so much of the distress. Inspectors frequently came across prison officers who were doing their best in often very difficult circumstances, but many were inexperienced, insufficiently trained and lacked the time to help women cope with their imprisonment.

Many women in prison have children, and 94% of the prisoners surveyed for the report said that keeping in touch with family and friends was an important form of support for them, but prison leaders had not been creative in making this critical contact as positive and effective as possible. About a third of women received no face-to-face visits at all. For those that did, their children and families faced long, expensive journeys for short, inflexible visit sessions. The range of support was far more limited than that in some men’s prisons, despite there being a higher level of need.

Women described how long periods locked up, with little to keep them occupied, increased their anxiety and isolation. For some the prison environment, with its loud noises and lack of calm, quiet space, created additional distress. A basic lack of decency compounded these issues – women were given ill-fitting prison-issue men’s clothes, some could not get enough underwear, and a bizarre rule prevented them from washing their underwear in a washing machine.

The response to some women in crisis had become punitive, with physical force being used far too often and, in some cases, without good reason. Inspectors saw examples of women in distress being stripped against their will to make them wear anti-rip clothing (clothing designed to be difficult to tear to make ligatures). This approach was traumatic for women and officers and failed to provide the care and compassion women desperately needed.

There is no doubt that our prisons contain some very unwell women who are expressing their distress through repeated and risky self-harm. Dedicated mental health provision is critical, but prison staff also have a vital role to play.  Disappointingly, this report highlights a lack of basic care to help women cope day-by-day which, for some, is then a cause of self-harm.

The report challenges leaders to transform these prisons into environments in which women are actively supported by skilled staff, with daily regimes that are conducive to good mental health and better outcomes both during their sentence and after release. Now is the time for urgent and determined action.
Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor

Notes to editors

  1. A copy of this report, published on 5 February 2025, can be found on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website at: HM Inspectorate of Prisons
  2. HM Inspectorate of Prisons is an independent inspectorate, inspecting places of detention to report on conditions and treatment and promote positive outcomes for those detained and the public.
  3. Fieldwork for this report took place at HMP & YOI Bronzefield in Surrey, HMP/YOI Eastwood Park in Gloucestershire, HMP/YOI Foston Hall in Derbyshire and HMP/YOI New Hall in West Yorkshire. Prisons were selected to have a reception element, to be both private and public sector-run and to ensure a good geographical spread across England. There are no women’s prisons in Wales.
  4. Fieldwork consisted of prisoner and staff surveys, interviews with prisoners and officers, meetings with managers, a health care review, a review of responses to self-harm, key lines of enquiry. In total, 710 prisoner questionnaires were handed out and 591 returned, which was an 83% response rate.
  5. Please email media@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you would like more information.