Inmates held in a women’s prison are making 1,000 calls a month to Samaritans amid record levels of self-harm, increased violence and low safety levels usually only seen in men’s facilities, a damning report has found.
Nearly a third of women held at Foston Hall in Derbyshire, which holds 272 residents, told inspectors they felt unsafe, while the use of force in the prison has doubled over nearly three years and is the highest on the women’s prison’s estate.
The women’s prison and youth offender institute is the first to be given a score of “poor” – the lowest – for the safety of female prisoners, since HM Inspectorate of Prisons developed its current framework more than a decade ago.
The findings, in an official report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, have prompted calls for the government to abandon plans to build more women’s prison places. Nearly three-quarters of female prisoners have committed non-violent offences.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) disclosed last year it would be building 500 new prison places for women, as the planned recruitment of an extra 20,000 police officers is expected to cause a rise in the female prison population.
Inspections of the prison took place in October and November and it became apparent that the prison has struggled with the Covid pandemic.
Charlie Taylor, HM chief inspector of prisons, said the rating of “poor” for safety levels was a “rare and unexpected finding” in a women’s prison.
“Neither the prison’s assessment of vulnerability, nor the support offered to newly arrived women were good enough. The unpredictability of the regime was contributing to tensions on the wings and, we suspected, increased violence, particularly against staff.
“Violence was now very high. The use of force had doubled since the last inspection and was the highest in the women’s estate. There was now far more frequent use of the poor segregation unit,” he said.
Recorded levels of self-harm were also the highest in the women’s estate and two prisoners had taken their own lives since the last official inspection in February 2019, he said.
“As an indicator of the level of distress, women were making 1,000 calls a month to Samaritans. The prison had no strategy to reduce self-harm or improve the care for those in crisis,” Taylor said.
The response to women in crisis was too reactive, uncaring and often punitive, Taylor observed. “This, taken with other safety metrics and observation, meant it was no surprise that in our survey nearly a third of women told us they felt unsafe,” he said.
The report also found that the majority of women who harmed themselves did not have enough support or activity and faced daily frustration in getting the help they needed. “Messages left on the prison’s crisis hotline had not been checked for six weeks,” the report found.
The conclusions have prompted condemnation from prison campaigners. Deborah Coles, the director of Inquest, said: “Foston Hall prison is a dangerous and harmful place for women. Horrendous rates of self-harm, exacerbated by the impact of Covid and restricted regimes, punitive treatment and segregation for women in crisis. This is inhumane and unjust.”
Emily Evison, women’s policy officer at the Prison Reform Trust, said: “Women’s prisons are expected to solve problems which are made worse by women being in custody. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of women entering prison to serve a sentence have committed a non-violent offence. Many women who offend suffer from drug and alcohol addictions and mental ill health.
“Building more women’s prison places, as the government has committed to doing, is an irrational response.”
The report was accompanied by a paper identifying key findings in the inspection of five women’s prisons – Low Newton, Styal, Send, Downview and Foston Hall – in the last six months. Inspectors raised serious concerns about high rates of self-harm and vulnerability across the women’s prison estate, which accounts for only about 4% of prisoners in England and Wales.
Self-harm is much more common for women in prison than men and has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic to record levels. Fifty-two per cent of women said they had children under 18 years old.
The MoJ said it had set up a new safety taskforce at Foston Hall to assess monthly progress and drive forward improvements. The senior management team has also been boosted with additional capacity to provide oversight.
Victoria Atkins, the prisons minister, said the issues highlighted by the inspection were not acceptable.
“Across the wider women’s prison estate, our staff have worked hard to ensure women receive extra support to deal with mental health issues during the pandemic, overseen by a taskforce at national level, and we are starting to see a decrease in the number of self-harm incidents across the estate,” she said.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
