PRT comment: HMP & YOI Foston Hall

Commenting on the findings of conditions at HMP & YOI Foston Hall by HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 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. A large number of women in prison are victims of far more serious crimes than those for which they have been convicted.

“The answers to women’s offending lie in proper treatment and support in the community and sustained investment in non-custodial alternatives. Building more women’s prison places, as the government has committed to doing, is an irrational response.”