The launch of the Women’s Justice Board on 21 January 2025 marks a significant moment in rethinking how the UK treats women in the criminal justice system. Campaigners have stressed that women’s offending is often rooted in trauma, domestic abuse, poverty and addiction. Prisons rarely address these issues and often deepen the harm. Chaired by…
A new IMB (Independent Monitoring Board) report on HMP/YOI Bronzefield, published on 10 December 2025, reveals a devastating reality: women in acute mental distress are still being sent to prison because secure psychiatric beds simply don’t exist. Despite warnings in the 2023 IMB thematic report, Bronzefield’s 2024-25 annual review shows that almost nothing has changed,…