Women in Prison (WIP) is a charity working with women at risk of going to prison, in prison and after release to promote their resettlement, personal development, education and training.
We educate the public and policy makers about women in the criminal justice system and we promote alternatives to custody.
Prison causes damage and disruption to the lives of vulnerable women, most of whom pose no risk to the public.
- 70% of women prisoners have mental health problems.
- 37% have attempted suicide.
- 20% have been in the care system as children compared to 2% of the general population.
- At least 50% report being victims of childhood abuse or domestic violence.
Prison is often a very expensive way of making bad situations worse.
- Nearly a third of women prisoners who have owned/rented accommodation before prison lose their homes as a result of imprisonment.
- 65% re-offend on release.
- A prison bed costs between £25,000 and £45,000 a year.
- The most common offences for which women are sent to prison are theft and handling stolen goods.
- The women’s prison population went up by 173% in the decade to 2004.
Prison does not work. The best way to cut women’s offending is to deal with its root causes.
“Taking the most hurt people out of society and punishing them in order to teach them how to live within society is, at best, futile. Whatever else a prisoner knows, she knows everything there is to know about punishment because that is exactly what she has grown up with. Whether it is childhood sexual abuse, indifference, neglect; punishment is most familiar to her”.
Chris Tchaikovsky
Former prisoner and founder of Women in Prison |
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There are 4,479 women in prison this week (as of 15/02/08).
2008
25/01/08 - 4,402
2007
21/12/07 - 4,449
30/11/07 - 4,510
26/10/07 - 4,400
28/09/07 - 4,419
31/08/07 - 4,404
27/07/07 - 4,345
29/06/07 - 4,390
25/05/07 - 4,433
27/04/07 - 4,334
30/03/07 - 4,348
23/02/07 - 4,334
26/01/07 - 4,414
200622/12/06 - 4,384 24/11/06 - 4,445 27/10/06 - 4,482 29/09/06 - 4,606 25/08/06 - 4,589 28/07/06 - 4,494 30/06/06 - 4,464 26/05/06 - 4,490
28/04/06 - 4,392
31/03/06 - 4,379
24/02/06 - 4,415
27/01/06 - 4,356
2005
30/12/05 - 4,256
25/11/05 - 4,571
28/10/05 - 4,605
30/09/05 - 4,611 26/08/05 - 4,612 29/07/05 - 4,534 24/06/05 - 4,501 27/05/05 - 4,501 29/04/05 - 4,483 24/03/05 - 4,420 25/02/05 - 4,354 28/01/05 - 4,261 (Figures from the Prison Service website) |
