Mental health
Women
Europe
Mental health
Suicide
Activities
Social ties
United Kingdom
Women’s prisons have ‘astonishing gaps in basic decency’ and an ‘overreliance’ on physical force according to new research which examined conditions in four jails.
Europe
Minors
Health
Mental health
Activities
Rehabilitation
United Kingdom
Teenagers in Feltham Young Offender Institution (YOI) were locked in their cells for as long as 22 hours a day, according to a report.
Crises
Europe
Mental health
Drugs
Overcrowding
Alternatives
United Kingdom
A record 58 people died in Scottish prisons in 2024. The total exceeded the previous record of 53 deaths, set in 2022, and sparked a debate over the causes.
Crises
Europe
Long-term prisoners
Mental health
Material conditions
United Kingdom
New data claims that imprisoned people and staff at Channings Wood Prison near Newton Abbot are being failed by a prison system in crisis.
North America
LGBTQI
Justice
Health
Mental health
Violence
United States
A federal judge temporarily blocked prison officials from moving a transgender woman to a men’s prison and cutting off her access to gender-affirming care.
Europe
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Social ties
Work
United Kingdom
I was one of a group of Just Stop Oil activists given the longest-ever UK sentences for peaceful protest after blocking a motorway. Six months into my incarceration, this is what I have learned.
Crises
Minors
Middle East
Mental health
Material conditions
Violence
Iran
A teenage girl arrested this autumn for taking photos at a government event in Ahvaz spent over three weeks in detention, including 15 days in solitary confinement, IranWire has learned.
Ireland: women in largest female prison were accompanied by multiple guards to cervical screenings
News
Women
Europe
Health
Mental health
Ireland
Women who underwent cervical screening in Limerick’s female prison had to be accompanied by two to three guards up to last year, leading to a low take up.
Oceania
Access to legal rights
Mental health
Facilities
Overcrowding
Australia
The Northern Territory’s Anti-Discrimination Commissioner has warned the government could be at risk of breaching an international human rights agreement on torture after closing a specialised facility for mentally ill and disabled imprisoned people.
South America
Mental health
Material conditions
Protest
Torture
Venezuela
Juan, a young man aged around 20, alleges he was physically and psychologically tortured by Venezuelan security forces after being detained in connection with the presidential elections on 28 July.
Crises
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Violence
Alternatives
United States
Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.
Culture
Europe
Justice
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Activities
Social ties
Alternatives
Rehabilitation
In Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland, life in prison resembles the outside world as much as possible. However, like any prison system, they aren’t perfect. Nordic prisons are facing some of the same challenges as prisons in the UK.
Oceania
Justice
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Violence
Australia
Prison guards switched off the water to the cell of a mentally ill and dying man as punishment for his strange behaviour, joked that his repeated pleas for help were “entertaining”, and then left him unobserved to die at Silverwater jail from a treatable illness that was inexplicably missed.
Prison under the skin
Analysis
North America
Europe
Long-term prisoners
Access to legal rights
Mental health
Rehabilitation
(4) Time spent in detention has a lasting impact on bodies and minds. It leaves persistent wounds and scars that make it harder to re-enter society and affect how people occupy their space.
North America
Justice
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
United States
Moldy mattresses, 24/7 lights and constant noise contribute to a persistent health and safety crisis in prisons and jails. The Marshall Project and Los Angeles Times have identified more than 30 lawsuits regarding sleep deprivation behind bars over the last three decades.
North America
Women
LGBTQI
Health
Mental health
United States
With new restrictions on gender-affirming care, prisons confiscate underwear from trans people and compel them to cut their hair.
Africa
North America
Central America and the Caribbean
South America
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Justice
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Torture
Violence
Activities
Social ties
How can the complexity of information on prison conditions be made accessible and used to support change? The Prison Life Index is the result of a multidisciplinary collaboration between academics and members of civil society.
United States: juvenile detention centers in North Carolina under scrutiny for use of isolation
News
North America
Minors
Health
Mental health
Material conditions
Suicide
Social ties
United States
Teenagers in North Carolina’s juvenile justice system are routinely being locked alone in their rooms for as much as 23 to 24 hours a day, according to an ongoing federal lawsuit and advocates for young people in custody.
Oceania
Long-term prisoners
Health
Mental health
New Zealand
Contracts for the Improving Mental Health Service is due to end from June 2025. Mental health workers fear some imprisoned people who are suicidal, psychotic or suffering other serious psychological problems will be left without support when their contracts end.
Women
Europe
Mental health
Drugs
Facilities
Alternatives
Ireland
More investment is needed to better support people struggling with addiction, poverty, and trauma to reduce Ireland’s prison population, a general election hustings by the Irish Prison Reform Trust (IPRT) has heard.
Crises
Elderly prisoners
Europe
Mental health
United Kingdom
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that 38 of the prison’s 138, or 27.5% of incarcerated people, as of July 2024 are on medication associated with managing a diagnosed mental-health condition or addressing symptoms.
Burying the problems
Analysis
Inside Outside
Africa
North America
South America
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Mental health
Prison Insider, represented by Clara Grisot, contributed twelve compositions to the book InsideOutside to articulate, in a few words, the current challenges of prison life. Seventh piece: mental health.