Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

May 20, 2020

Argentina: ¿para qué está la cárcel?

News

Coronavirus South America Women LGBTQI Material conditions Overcrowding Argentina

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

May 19, 2020

USA: filling the maternal-care gap

News

North America Women Health United States

Nonprofit pregnancy support organizations help strengthen bonds between incarcerated women and their newborn children.

May 13, 2020

Swiss: proportion la plus faible d'étrangers en prison depuis 15 ans

News

Women Europe Foreign prisoners Switzerland

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

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April 30, 2020

Central African Republic: a woman and a prison director

Testimonial

Africa Women Justice Health Central African Republic

Training, life in prison, lack of staff and budget, security, armed conflicts: Gisèle explains, based on her own experience, how incarceration is managed in a country where resources are scarce, and demands are abundant.

April 24, 2020

South Africa: plans under way to remove babies of offenders from East London prison after Covid-19 outbreak

News

Africa Coronavirus Women Minors South Africa

The correctional services department is making plans for babies of two offenders at an East London female prison to be taken to their mothers’ families after cases of Covid-19 at the correctional facility. There are 26 confirmed coronavirus cases at the East London Correctional Centre. Three are in…

April 24, 2020

USA: inmates at N.J. women’s prison endured years of sex abuse, justice dept. finds

News

North America Women Violence United States

WASHINGTON — Inmates at New Jersey’s only state prison for women were regularly sexually assaulted by guards and sometimes forced to engage in sex acts with other prisoners while staff members looked on, according to a Justice Department report released on Monday detailing widespread, pervasive sex…

April 9, 2020

France: pour certaines féministes, la prison n'est pas la solution contre les agressions sexuelles

News

Women Europe Justice Violence France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

April 6, 2020

Australia: 'urgent action' needed over high proportion of Indigenous women in prison, report says

News

Women Oceania Australia

The number of Indigenous women in custody has been called “one of the most challenging human rights issues facing Australia”. Research out today has shed new light on Indigenous women in the criminal justice system in New South Wales. It found the number of women in NSW jails between March 2013 and…

March 26, 2020

Australia: women released from prison are at much greater risk of violence

News

Women Oceania Violence Australia

Violence against women is rarely out of the news in Australia. We are now ten years into the National Action Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women (2010-2022), but there is still a long way to go. Our research shows this is particularly true for women who have been to prison. The considerable chall…

March 26, 2020

UK: concern over segregated transgender women prisoners

News

Women Europe Violence United Kingdom

The segregation of a jail’s transgender women prisoners for “long periods” has been noted as a concern by a watchdog. The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) also had “serious concerns” about the lack of rehabilitation courses, and of women facing homelessness on release from HMP Eastwood Park. It p…

March 12, 2020

Women in prison: a "tough place"

Interview

Women Europe Health Mental health

Women and girls make up 7% of the global prison population, in various proportions. While they represent 3% in African countries, it goes up to 8 % in the Americas, and 6 % in Europe. The highest proportions are found in Hong Kong-China (21%), Laos (18%) or Qatar (15%).

March 11, 2020

Mexico: mujeres padecen el olvido en las cárceles

News

Central America and the Caribbean Women Access to legal rights Mexico

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

March 11, 2020

Jamaica: the agony of serving time in prison while pregnant

News

Central America and the Caribbean Women Health Jamaica

In Jamaica, women incarcerated while pregnant face the painful reality of being separated from their newborn up to six months after giving birth — a reality which often leads to anxiety and depression for the rest of their stay in prison.

March 11, 2020

Spain: machismo en el sistema penitenciario y la triple condena que sufren las mujeres en las cárceles españolas

News

Women Europe Spain

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: Spanish

February 27, 2020

UK: women released from prison nearly three times less likely to be in employment on release than men

News

Women Europe Rehabilitation United Kingdom

A new briefing, Working It Out, published today by the Prison Reform Trust and Working Chance, reveals that fewer than one in 20 women (4%) were in employment six weeks after release from prison, compared with over one in 10 men (11%).

February 12, 2020

France: "aux oubliées", l’initiative pour offrir des livres aux femmes en prison

News

Culture Women Europe Activities France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 10, 2020

France: femmes détenues et inégalités dans la population carcérale

News

North America Women Europe Minors Health France

This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French

February 7, 2020

Turkey: we are not likely to be freed from prison before the outside world becomes free

News

Women Europe Activities Turkey

Arrested in Kandıra Type F Prison, former HDP Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ says that she has started playing a musical instrument in prison: “I make no claim in arts, my days in prison are turning into a lively and smooth life.”

February 5, 2020

India: prison system needs urgent reform

News

Women Asia Foreign prisoners Health Overcrowding India

The 2018 statistics on prison must spur the criminal justice system to assess, evaluate and take affirmative steps.

January 10, 2020

Hearing — 8/12

Inside Outside

North America South America Women Asia Europe Long-term prisoners

Each month, the photographer Bertrand Gaudillère creates an image or chooses one from his archives. Prison Insider sends it to a dozen participants, prisoners around the world.They are in Argentina, in the United States of America, in France, in Switzerland, in Guatemala, in Ukraine, in Colombia, i…

January 2, 2020

Australiia : Christmas in prison: How female inmates cope and support each other a "sad and lonely" time

News

Women Oceania Australia

December 25th can be a chaotic mix of cheer and stress, but above all, it is a time of year dedicated to family. While most celebrate with their loved ones, for those in prison, Christmas is a complicated matter. “It has a bit more of an impact on the women,” said Superintendent Julie Steineuer fro…

December 27, 2019

USA: life after prison

News

North America Women United States

The Reentry Initiative is one of two programs in the state that helps women parolees. Additionally, the program works with women before and after their release and men after their release. Roughly 250 to 285 people are released through Longmont parole.

December 27, 2019

USA: prisons neglect pregnant women in their healthcare policies

News

North America Women United States

Our 50-state survey finds that in spite of national standards, most states lack important policies on prenatal care and nutrition for pregnant women.

December 27, 2019

USA: governor halts policy after prison guards strip-search girl

News

North America Women Violence United States

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Friday that he’s suspended a policy that allowed prison officials to strip search an 8-year-old girl who was visiting her father.