Gender, Harm and Suicide: Confronting the Crisis in our Prisons

Wednesday, 8 March 2017 – 3:30-6:00pm at the Warwick Arts Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry.

To coincide with International Women’s Day, the University of Warwick’s Criminal Justice Centre (part of the School of Law) is hosting a free, public event at Warwick Arts Centre to start a broad, policy-informed conversation around ways of reducing the risks of harm and suicide for women in prison.

The recent revelations of self-isolation due to fear at HMP Featherstone, near Wolverhampton, have again highlighted the crisis situation in our prisons.

Last year, 119 people died by suicide within British prisons. This is the highest annual figure on record, doubling since 2012, according to official data published by the Ministry of Justice.

It means that on average, in 2016, there was a prisoner suicide every three days.

The 2017 HMIP (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons) report on Featherstone draws public attention to the situation in male prisons, however women, constituting five per cent of the total prison population, accounted for 10 per cent of last year’s suicides.

This indicates the need for a distinct approach for women in addressing issues of safety, harm and well-being in our prisons.

A variety of voices from key organisations working within UK criminal justice institutions are featured and the event is open to all, including members of the public.

Speakers include Claire Cain, Policy & Campaigns Manager for Women in Prison; Lorraine Atkinson, Senior Policy Officer at the Howard League for Penal Reform; Jane Trigg, from the UK Government’s National Offender Management Service; and Leo Klein representing the charity Prisoners’ Penfriends.

Professor Jacqueline Hodgson, Director of the Criminal Justice Centre at University of Warwick, also speaking, said: “This is a unique opportunity, to have campaigners and policy-makers all together in the same room, providing a range of insights on how action can be taken on this issue.

“Guest speakers will present briefly on the issues and the wider context of the risks of harm to prisoners, before we open up the conversation on what we can really do to make our prisons safer for women.”

The event will be chaired by Anastasia Chamberlen, Department of Sociology at Warwick.

With increasing national dialogue on the state of our prisons, the event comes as a timely opportunity to be part of an agenda that aims to attend to the specific needs of women in prisons.

Light refreshments will open the event at 3:30pm, followed by short presentations from the speakers with questions and discussion, with a wine reception to close at 6:00pm.

Attendees are encouraged to secure their place here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gender-harm-and-suicides-in-prison-tickets-32118624671

For more information contact: Professor Jacqueline Hodgson, Director, Criminal Justice Centre, School of Law, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, Tel: +44 (0)2476 524163