Sexual assault and self-harm in women’s jails skyrocket as prisons become too overcrowded
New government data reveals that the number of sexual assaults in women’s prisons has skyrocketed last year, with offences nearly doubling as a result of an intensifying crisis in the UK prison system.
It is a well-known fact at this point that cuts to prison budgets have left the system in crisis. Since 2010, nearly 10,700 prison places have been closed, leading to chaos, overcrowding, and damning reports from independent inspectors that warn of dire conditions.
The Independent writes that 54 sexual assaults were reported in 2023, a sharp increase from 27 recorded in 2022 and signifying a substantial rise in the 11 incidents documented back in 2010.
On top of this, the amount of overall assaults in the female prison estate has almost tripled between 2010 and 2023, jumping to 1,781 incidents from 653. Assaults in female prisons shot up by 32 per cent last year from 1,346 incidents in 2022.
Further intensifying this gruesome picture of chaos and mayhem within the walls of UK prisons is a surge in self-harm incidents, with almost 20,000 incidents recorded last year. Research by the organisation Prison Reform revealed that women are much more likely to self-harm than men while in prison. In 2022, women made up 29 per cent of all self-harm incidents despite making up only 4 per cent of the prison population.
This could be rooted in the fact that around two-thirds of women in the criminal justice system have experienced domestic abuse. Others have dealt with childhood trauma, mental health problems or homelessness, contributing to the complex dynamics that drive them to commit crimes.
Research also highlights that entering the criminal justice gateway invariably makes things worse, not better. It frequently results in jailed women losing their jobs or their homes, making it harder to address the problems which brought them into contact with the police in the first place.
In light of these facts, campaigns have called for a reduction in the number of women sent to prison, calling attention to the fact that the majority of women who are being incarcerated have committed non-violent crimes (around 72 per cent in 2020). Furthermore, 70 per cent of prison sentences given to women were for less than 12 months.
“[Prisons] are failing to rehabilitate or provide women with the support they so desperately need—instead contributing to further trauma and misery which will trap more women in the cycle of crisis and crime,” Pavan Dhaliwal, chief executive of criminal justice charity Revolving Doors, told The Independent.
“Tackling these issues starts outside of prison with targeted support and long-term efforts to divert women away from the justice system,” Dhaliwal continued.
All of this comes on the heels of a larger number of women being jailed in recent years, despite a government pledge to cut the number of female prisoners.
This lack of attention to the plight of female prisoners highlights a perception of deservedness that prevails when many people read these kind of headlines. Society seems to believe that individuals who commit crimes deserve to be punished harshly and that their rights are forfeited as a result of their actions, which is an incredibly dangerous narrative. Comprising the right to live safely for some undermines all social justice efforts to demand it for others.
