Black and white image shows two rows of prison cells.

Georgia Wells

In England and Wales, the state is failing women in prison, especially mothers and mothers-to-be.

This is not new. Frances Crook, on behalf of The Howard League for Penal Reform, has spent her 35-year career campaigning to stop imprisoning vulnerable women — but to no avail.

Unfortunately, our prison system perpetuates a cycle in which vulnerable women, particularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, are continually drawn in. Given that women make up only 4 per cent of the total prison population in England and Wales, it is unsurprising that their gender-specific needs and vulnerabilities are consistently overlooked in a system that is designed for and dominated by men.

Pregnant Women In UK Prisons

“Pregnant women should not be held in prison, it is not safe for them or their babies”

The failure of prisons to meet the needs of vulnerable pregnant women is tragically exemplified in Rianna Cleary’s story.

A pregnant 18-year-old care leaver, Cleary gave birth in her cell alone after no one came to help. She suffered severe blood loss and unfortunately lost the baby.

A coroner’s report found the baby’s death to be completely preventable. Yet, despite tragedies like this, vulnerable pregnant women continue to give birth in prison, suffering severe health disadvantages of pregnancy whilst imprisoned. Pregnant women are seven times more likely to experience a stillbirth compared to the general population, and twice as likely to go into premature labour. This is often due to them missing routine midwifery appointments whilst in prison.

Complex Vulnerabilities Of The Female Prison Population

Prison is also not a safe space for otherwise vulnerable women.

Many of the women currently imprisoned have been coerced into crime by men. Most women in prison have been victims of more serious crimes than those for which they are convicted, with 79 per cent of women in prison being victims of domestic and/or sexual abuse. Additionally, the most common offence women are imprisoned for is shoplifting, a survival crime typically committed by impoverished mothers.

What does prison achieve for these vulnerable women? Our criminal justice system simply doesn’t accommodate for alternative solutions which would help rather than harm.

The Impact Of Remand

“Women are consistently failed by a system that is ill-equipped to support them, when they often shouldn’t be in prison at all.”

50 per cent of women in prison are there on remand. This means that they have not yet had their trial, or been found guilty. Of this percentage, the majority are low-level offenders. Consequently, two thirds of women on remand will not be found guilty or given a community order instead. However, a remand sentence is still enough time for a woman to lose her tenancy, her job and, most traumatically, her children.

Consequently, the frequent yet pointless use of remand completely disregards the needs of women as primary caregivers. 66 per cent of women in prison are mothers of dependent children. For mothers in prison, separation from children is one of the leading factors affecting the record level self-harm rates in women’s prisons, exacerbating existing trauma and mental health problems.

For children, maternal separation can lead to long term disadvantage. 95 per cent of children are forced to leave their own home as a result of their mother’s imprisonment, with many ending up in the care system. This perpetuates the intergenerational cycle of reoffending, as over 30 per cent of women in prison have had experience in the care system.

Cumulatively, the failure of prisons to address women’s specific needs and vulnerabilities, compounded by the fact that most women should not even be in prison in the first place, underscores the need for urgent radical change.

Community Alternatives

“We must urge the government to stop imprisoning pregnant women, and invest in restorative community alternatives for female offenders.”

There is so much potential for women to serve sentences within local communities. This causes far less long term disruption and allows women to maintain family contact.

Small scale alternatives to prison have had much success, but are currently unsustainable due to insufficient government funding. There are currently 40 Women Centres in England and Wales which provide female-tailored specialist community support. These facilities aim to reduce women’s contact with the criminal justice system by addressing the root causes of women’s offending, providing mental-health, substance misuse and homelessness services.

Recent economic analysis found that a £1m investment into women’s centres can generate £2.75m in socio-economic benefits. This produces savings in the public sector and reduces the number of children entering the care system.

However, the government continues to prioritise ineffective punitive solutions and, instead, currently plans on investing £150m into 500 extra prison places for women in England. Imagine how many lives could be changed if the government alternatively invested this money. Imagine the impact of 500 new healing spaces for vulnerable women caught up in the criminal justice system.

In England and Wales, our prison system is failing women. As Rianna’s story illustrates, for mothers and mothers-to-be imprisonment is leading to tragic and preventable consequences. However, a stronger collective public voice that stands up for women in prison has the power to influence future policy decisions.

We must stand up for women in prison, who cannot stand up for themselves. We must urge the government to stop imprisoning pregnant women, and invest in restorative community alternatives for female offenders.

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Featured image courtesy of Emiliano Bar via Unsplash. No changes were made to this photo. License available here.

I'm a final year Criminal Justice and Criminology student at the University of Leeds. After university I hope to pursue a career in journalism. I am passionate about tackling injustice, social and political policy, and human rights.

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