How can we prevent suicide and self harm in women’s prisons?

Dr Maria Leitner

This was the question on the table at the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) attended by Open Justice in the Palace of Westminster last month [1]. An appropriate venue given its long association both with trials and punishment and with the seat of power which ultimately governs how our Criminal Justice System (CJS)  operates.

It became rapidly clear both from the presentations given and from the audience’s well informed response to these that the CJS doesn’t work very well, particularly for women. We have known this for a long time. The interesting thing about the APPG was its strong focus on the urgency of finding solutions. This focus, a comparatively new one for parliamentary bodies, stems from the same realisations that resulted in the recent excellent decision to set up a Women’s Justice Board. Women suffer disproportionately from imprisonment and frequently as a consequence of crimes which are of a much less serious nature than those of which men are convicted.

The thematic report presented at the APPG by Sandra Fieldhouse, leader of the Women’s Inspectorate team HMI Prisons [2] summed up the issues succinctly. The rate of self-harm in women’s prisons is now 8.5 times that in men’s prisons. The report found this to be due to a combination of factors. Notably, the poor quality of the regimes instituted in women’s prisons; a lack of support given to women; a lack of mental health training amongst staff and, crucially, the damaging effect on women of being separated from their children and other family members.

Comparing the remit of the HMIP report with that of the Women’s Justice Board is interesting. The report looked at changing how women experience prison. The Board’s remit is to ensure that fewer women experience prison – at all, full stop. The difference is interesting because, frankly, the only realistic solution to the high levels of suicide and self-harm in women’s prisons is to avoid sending women to prison where at all possible. Nor do I rule this out for men also convicted of low-level offending. Prisons are intrinsically damaging places to be. What are the most common reasons people commit suicide? Well, high up on the list are poor mental health; drug and alcohol abuse; past trauma; isolation; feelings of inadequacy and rejection and the ‘learned helplessness’ which is a response to not feeling that one has any control over events in one’s life. All of which pretty much describes our prison population – and, in particular, the experience of women in prison.

So yes, we can and should try to improve prison regimes – we should provide better support and training in relation to mental health and substance abuse; provide trauma-informed care (albeit that imprisonment itself is traumatising); provide more opportunities for meaningful contact with children and families. But ultimately, this is all tinkering around the edges of a fundamentally outdated and dysfunctional approach to crime. As we have argued elsewhere, reducing the rate of suicide and self-harm by women in the Criminal Justice System requires deep, systemic, structural reform. Whilst this uncomfortable truth was raised by a small number of voices at the APPG, the most common response to solving the mental health crisis in women’s prisons remained making changes, often comparatively minor, to the prison system itself. The narrative needs to move well beyond this and the system closer to that implemented in some European countries if any meaningful impact on suicide and self-harm is to be achieved.

The remit of the Women’s Justice Board gives some cause for hope, if the goal of reducing the number of women prisoners is effectively pursued. In the meantime, Kate Osamor, the MP chairing the APPG asked for suggestions on how the mental health of women prisoners could be improved and their rate of suicide and self-harm brought down. Open Justice will be responding to her request and we recommend that you do too if you have any suggestions. In particular,  if you have any direct or indirect experience of the prison system and the impact it has on mental health [kate.osamor.mp@parliament.uk  / 0207 219 6602].

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[1] Women affected by the Criminal Justice System: The Silent Crisis: Self-harm and mental health in women’s prisons. 19th March 2025

[2] His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, “Time to Care: What helps women cope in prison?”, February 2025