Women in Prison respond to women's prison population predicted rise of 16% by Nov 2027

• The women's population increased to 3,611 in November 2023 and is projected to increase further to 4,200 by November 2027.
• This is over a 16% increase in the women’s prison population
• Overall increase of 20% across the whole prison population
• Projections come from the Ministry of Justice’s Prison Population Projections 2023-2028

Sonya Ruparel, Women in Prison's CEO, commented: “We are deeply concerned about the predicted rise in the women’s prison population when the government has committed to doing exactly the opposite.

We know that prisons are not a safe place for women. The current historic levels of self-harm, reports of dire conditions, and devasting recent deaths in women’s prisons show we are well past the point when enough was enough.

More and more women are being sent to prison when most (69%*) have committed a non-violent crime, and the use of remand is skyrocketing, despite most women (72%*) not going on to receive a custodial sentence.

We need to keep women in their communities and take a gendered approach that addresses the root causes of what drives women’s contact with the criminal justice system which includes poverty, a chronic lack of safe, suitable housing, and poor mental health.

We are calling on the Government to realise the ambitions in their Female Offender Strategy to reduce the number of women in prison.”

ENDS

Contact [email protected] +44 7897 395 310

*Stats quoted from Prison Reform Trust, Bromley Briefing Feb 2024