WOMEN who experience abuse need safe spaces, not cells, campaigners have warned, after a new inspectorate report published today exposed soaring levels of self-harm in women’s prisons.

Research across four prisons reported failures to provide inmates with adequate support and said there had been an over-reliance on using physical force to manage women in crisis. 

The report said visitors faced long, expensive journeys for short, inflexible visit sessions, making it hard for inmates to keep in contact with loved ones, while many spent long periods locked in their cell with nothing to do.

It found that much of the distress was rooted in a lack of basic care.

Some could not get enough underwear, while a bizarre rule prevented them from washing underwear in a washing machine.

Inspectors noted that the rate of self-harm has soared over 10 years and is now 8.5 times higher than in men’s jails. 

Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said: “Dedicated mental health provision is critical, but prison staff also have a vital role to play.  

“Disappointingly, this report highlights a lack of basic care to help women cope day by day which, for some, is then a cause of self-harm.”

But the prison officers’ union POA said it had repeatedly asked for additional resources and had consistently been denied them by HM Prison Service.

National chairman Mark Fairhurst said: “We asked for every prisoner to have an allocated keyworker which would have ensured women in our care received the attention they need. 

“When, as a union, we are ignored, the consequences of inaction are there for all to witness.”

Andrew Neilson of the Howard League for Penal Reform said: “Women who experience abuse and trauma need a safe space, not a cell.

“But thousands have been sentenced to time in overwhelmed prisons that are unable to support them or meet their complex needs, leading to more pain and despair.  
 
“The government cannot duck its responsibilities on this, and ministers are right to make reducing the number of women behind bars a priority. 

“It is time to deliver the holistic, women-centred approach that has long been promised but consistently overlooked.”