Women in Prison
@WIP_live
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National charity supporting women affected by the criminal justice system & campaigning to end the harm of prison to women, their families & our communities.
United Kingdom
Joined February 2010
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Imagine a country mid pandemic with a plan to build more prisons. But no plan to build youth services, substance misuse services, women’s centres, community mental health support 4 mothers & babies, children’s centres, or homes. Those in power can still choose to invest in hope.
We're building 4 new prisons to:
⚖️ Improve rehabilitation
📈 Help local economies
🏗️ Support construction industry to invest & innovate
Part of our £2.5bn plan to create 10k additional prison places. Delivering modern prisons & keeping the public safe.
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Imagine a country having a plan to build more prisons. But no plan to build youth services, or women’s centres, or substance misuse services, or community mental health support 4 mothers & babies, or children’s centres, or homes. Those in power can still choose to invest in hope.
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As we enter 2nd Lockdown, those in prison face their 8th month locked up 23 hrs a day (aka solitary confinement), separated from children & family, worsening mental health & permanent harm to all involved. Those in power can still do the right thing: Reduce the prison population.
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Imagine a country having a plan to build more prisons. But no plan to build youth services, or women’s centres, or substance misuse services, or community mental health support 4 mothers & babies, or children’s centres, or homes. Those in power can still choose 2 invest in hope🤝
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Delighted that people leaving prison will now receive £76 (up from £46) on release - the first increase in 25 years!
This will make a real difference but it's just a start. We need more social housing & Universal Credit to cover cost of living to tackle the root causes of crime
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We do not need more prison places. To address prison overcrowding, the government must radically reduce the number of people in prison and invest in the community solutions that we know work in tackling the root causes of crime such as homelessness, poverty and substance misuse.
MPs warn prisons may run of out of space in three years amid government failures
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📢 CAMPAIGN LAUNCH📢The UK Government plans to build 500 new prison places for women.
Prison is a dead end, one that tears families apart. It doesn’t have to be like this. We can invest in our communities instead.
Join the campaign to
#StopThe500
now
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This Mother’s Day weekend we are thinking of all families separated by prison & anyone who is missing their Mum x 💐🌻🌻
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Let's be clear the Government's pledge to support domestic abuse survivors is at odds with plans to build 500 prison places. The trauma many women in prison experience is compounded by prison - a system based on punishment, disempowerment and control.
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📣 BREAKING NEWS
The Lord Chancellor
@ShabanaMahmood
MP has made a landmark announcement on
#WomenJustice
.
Speaking
@UKLabour
Conference, she said a new Women's Justice Board will be created to reduce the number of women going to prison.
Read more:
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We are delighted to be the recipients of the Longford Prize 2021 - a testament to the brilliant women we work with, our staff, volunteers and supporters fighting every day to end the harm of prison. Thank you 🤍
#Longford2021
@LongfordTrust
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Many women are imprisoned for being homeless, not having money to pay their bills and not having access to adequate mental health care & substance misuse support. This is why we must invest in community support services like women's centres, not prisons.
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Two-thirds of women in prison in Scotland have head injuries - the majority because of domestic abuse.
It doesn't have to be like this we can support women in the community with local services, like Women's Centres.
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To all the “activist lawyers” out there battling for justice & humanity in a broken system ~ Often for the most disadvantaged & vulnerable who have been forgotten & silenced ~ We thank you 💐🌷🌻
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“Plans to send children to prison to spend a night with their mothers, rather than release a mother to spend a night with her child, reveal the twisted approach of this Government and will only do more harm" -
@klparadine
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19 years ago today, our founder Chris Tchaikovsky died.
During Chris’s own time in prison, she saw how the specific needs of women in prison were being ignored and decided to do something about it.
Chris never stopped fighting for a better world and neither will we ✨
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Thousands of women are leaving prison each year with just a £46 discharge grant & a plastic bag of belongings. There is another way. By supporting women in the community we can ensure women get the stability they need to move forward with their lives
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These prison building plans have been condemned many times. For them to be celebrated now - in the middle of a pandemic & when focus should be on reducing the prison population, rooting out racism in our criminal justice system & rebuilding communities - is obscene. It must stop.
We're building 4 new prisons to:
⚖️ Improve rehabilitation
📈 Help local economies
🏗️ Support construction industry to invest & innovate
Part of our £2.5bn plan to create 10k additional prison places. Delivering modern prisons & keeping the public safe.
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A huge THANK YOU 4 supporting our Christmas card appeal we are overwhelmed by your compassion & kindness. We received 1000s of cards enough 4 every women's prison & have now closed the appeal. For more on women in prison & to donate
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Last year, a woman gave birth to a stillborn baby in her cell. Today, the PPO has published a report into the death.
This is the 2nd report into the death of a baby in prison in 6 months & another example of a devastating failure of healthcare in prison.
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Ahead of
#MothersDay
this weekend lets think about families who are unnecessarily torn apart by prison.
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"We imprison women on minor charges to a far greater degree than men. Around 2/3 did not commit a violent crime. Yet they are sent into prisons that are desperate places."
@ShabanaMahmood
speaking today
@UKLabour
conference.
Read more via
@Independent
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TV Licence evasion is the most common offense women are prosecuted for, accounting for a staggering 30% of all prosecutions. Women are disproportionately affected by austerity, more likely to earn less and more likely to be supporting a family.
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Most women are in prison for 6 months or less. This is long enough for someone to lose their job, home and children. Imagine a world where women are supported in the community and don’t go to prison at all? Take action now to
#StopThe500
👇
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We love this in today’s Times. If you r a woman who gets up every morning to smash the ice of multiple challenges, we see you: Mental ill health, substance misuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, trauma, poverty. You can do it. Thank you 💐2 all the women’s services there for you 🤝
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A third of all criminal prosecutions against women are for non-payment of the TV licence. It’s simply not right that an issue disproportionately affecting women and families on the lowest incomes is allowed to continue
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We send all our love 💐 today to every mother. Especially mothers in prison. And to mothers, sons & daughters separated from their loved ones by prison 🤝
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🗞️70 organisations, Peers & campaigners across criminal justice, housing, mental health, domestic abuse & children's sectors signed a joint letter to the Justice Secretary calling on Govt to
#Stopthe500
new women's prison places.
@thesundaytimes
story 👇
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This Mothers Day we are thinking of mothers and their children separated by prison & sending love ❤️. You can support our work to support women turning theirs & their families lives around 💐🌷🌻. Even £5 a month makes a big difference
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This should never have happened. No women should be left to give birth alone and with out access to vital health and maternity care.
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Did you know? Nearly three quarters of those prosecuted 4 not having a TV license r women. Because they r home when enforcers call. It’s the most common offence 4 which women are prosecuted. Prison is still used 2 punish debts relating 2 not paying Council tax or TV license.
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Right now, Parliament is debating the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. We must not understate how deeply harmful this Bill is. It will not only criminalise many protests but it will also criminalise more women. Here's a thread on what you need to know:
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For
#IWD2020
we will share some of the powerful poetry, art & stories created by women in prisons across the UK.
Only Thirteen is a poem by Miss O, who was in HMP Fosten Hall. This powerful poem featured in the Winter 2018 edition of our magazine.
#WomensHistoryMonth
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Government must recognise that domestic violence charity workers and those supporting those leaving prison in women’s centres are essential key workers. Women’s charities will suffer disproportionately from school closures and this recognition would help maintain services.
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Why r women in prison? Vast majority sentenced 4 non violent offending mainly theft like shoplifting. Also non payment of council tax & TV licence; not getting kids 2 school ... Root causes include mental ill health, abuse, sexual exploitation, addiction, poverty & homelessness.
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For
#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
don't forget women in prison. Recent reports show a record rise in self-harm - over 12 months 320 incidents required hospital.
The only way to stop this mental health crisis is for women to be supported in the community
#StopThe500
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Terrible sadness of another devastating death of a woman in prison. The question is the same one asked time after tragic time, year after year in similar cases
@INQUEST_ORG
: What on earth was she doing in prison in the first place?
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Devastating watch on
@BBCNewsnight
last night - our thoughts are with Louise.
Prisons are not places of safety, especially for pregnant women and new mothers who cannot access the same level of healthcare as in the community.
This cannot happen again.
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This week, our hearts go out to the family and friends of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa and every woman who has lost her life at the hands of male violence.
More police officers with more powers won’t keep us safe, only ending state and gendered violence will.
Solidarity & rage.
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This strategy fails to mention women criminalised as a result of experiencing violence and domestic abuse. Over two thirds of women in prison experienced domestic abuse and the trauma this causes is compounded by prison - a system based on punishment, disempowerment and control.
📢 Today we have launched the government’s new strategy to ensure women and girls are safe everywhere - at home, online and on the streets.
#VAWG
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Our response to the Government's funding announcement and building 500 new prison places for women - flying in the face of their own strategy of reducing the number of women in prison.
We can and must end the harm of prison to lives and our communities.
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There are many things we could say about today's announcement. Starting with this: To all the incredible CRC & probation staff working long, gruelling & thankless hours battling a broken system & supporting our most vulnerable citizens: We thank you 🌷💐🌻
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Whether it’s prison 4 non payment of council tax or TV licence, or not getting your kids 2 school - criminal justice responses 2 social & health problems (including poverty) should repulse us all. We can build a system that fills us with hope 🌻 not shame
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Today, marks one year since lockdown in prisons began. That's one year of women being “imprisoned in prison”, of spending 22.5 hours a day in cells, of no in-person visits, of just monthly poor-quality video calls with family and of suspended education and skills classes.
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Brilliant from
@BBCRadio4
Positive Thinking - We need more of this - looking at alternatives to the broken system & listening to those surviving it. Community-based Support like Women’s centres are the future. Not prisons.
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If you believe England should follow Scotland, Northern Ireland & Wales & end imprisonment 4 council tax debt tell your MP Poverty should never be a crime, but in one of the wealthiest nations in the world: Shameful & ridiculous.
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This
#MothersDay
thousands of children will be separated from their mothers. We need to work to keep women in their communities to tackle the root causes of crime. Thank you to
@Telegraph
for publishing our joint letter
@prisonadvice
@cjalliance
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We can create healthy & safe communities by building homes, services 4 children, parents & young people, support 4 those facing mental ill health, addiction, poverty & debt. Who would choose 2 build prisons? Who would stoke up fear rather than create hope?
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Are you a woman with strong feminist values & a thirst 4 social justice? Could you be the new Chair of Trustees for the charity Women in Prison? A unique opportunity 2 support women rebuilding their lives, help replace a broken system & change the world 🌍
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Almost two-thirds of women in prison have experienced domestic abuse. This has to change.
There is another way, when a woman is supported in the community through services, like Women's Centres, she can tackle the root causes of crime like abuse.
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One ‘crime’ women are disproportionately punished for: In research on prosecuting parents for not getting children to school, ten people were sent to prison & 9 were women. These tragic consequences are political choices that we have the power to change.
I cannot say this loudly enough...issuing fines to parents does not make their children go to school.
I have dismissed some horrendous cases brought by Local Authorities against parents who had excellent reasons for their children not attending school. It boggles the mind!
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Most women are in prison for 6 months or less. This is long enough for someone to lose their job, home and children.
Imagine a world where women are supported in the community and don’t go to prison at all?
Take action now to
#StopThe500
👇
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Please take a minute to sign this petition to abolish prison as penalty for non payment of council tax. Aim for 10,000 signatures by next week when Channel 4 News covers this issue. Thank you
@crimlawuk
@C4CrimAppeals
for all the work on this
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The release of mothers and babies on MBUs and pregnant women from prison is a first step to dealing with this crisis but far more people need to be released. We call on the Government to take immediate action to release women from prison to radically reduce the prison population.
Ministry of Justice has announced pregnant prisoners who do not pose a high risk to the public are to be temporarily released from custody to protect themselves from covid-19 as 65 inmates test positive for the virus across 23 prisons
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🚨Self-harm in women's prisons has reached the highest in a decade🚨
This is a devastating reminder of the mental health crisis going on behind prison doors & highlights that prisons are not safe & do not enable but prevent recovery.
Read our response ⬇️
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Women’s Centres address the root causes of crime and our new research shows they save money.
It's time the government turn rhetoric into action and
#valuewomenscentres
.
We need sustainable funding for Women’s Centres now.
Read our new report here:
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Thank you
@carolynharris24
for raising the important issue of housing and community support for women leaving prison. The Government must use the upcoming Spending Review as an opportunity to invest in vital community support services, like Women's Centres.
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Where is the humanity in sending a child to prison to visit their mother overnight rather than a mother being released to spend a night with her child?
There is another way, the Government can
#StopThe500
and tackle the root causes of crime.
For women committing minor crimes, community-based sentences are more beneficial for their children, their own rehabilitation, & better value for the tax payer.
Why, then, is the Govt pledging to put £150m into more women's prison places? It just doesn't make sense.
@WIP_live
🤦🏾♀️
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The overwhelming kindness of our supoorters in donating Christmas cards has enabled us to send cards to ALL prisons in the UK. Here we are at Bounceback in Brixton getting the sacks ready to go! 🌸🌺🌻
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Today we launch a campaign with our friends
@Brthcompanions
and
@we_level_up
to end the imprisonment of pregnant women.
Prison will never be a safe place for pregnant women and new mothers. We can change this.
Join us and sign the petition now 🖊️
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Most women are in prison for 6 months or less. That’s long enough to lose your job, home and children. This can change, with women supported in the community, through Women’s Centres, to tackle the root causes of crime, like domestic abuse and poverty. We can fund them instead.
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This is such wonderful news. So many incredible campaigners & activists 2 thank
@reclaimholloway
💐As work begins 2 make Holloway’s housing & Women’s Building a true legacy 4 social justice imagine all the prisons we could replace with homes & hope 🤝
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We absolutely love 💗
@daisy_haggard
#backtolife
Funny, clever, touching & brilliant. “Each of us is more than the worst thing we have done”. 🌻
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When imagining horrible reality of prison in a heat wave, important to remember so many don’t need to be there.2018 government strategy to reduce the women’s prison population sets out overwhelming evidence: what cuts offending is support to address root causes in communities
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When a mother is sent to prison it affects her whole family, including her kids.
Tonight, amendments to the
#PolicingBill
to require courts to inquire about child dependents, ask for a pre-sentence report & consider the best interests of the child in any decision will be debated
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Thank you
@INQUEST_ORG
@DebatINQUEST
4 honouring names of those who have died in women's prisons in 11 years since Baroness Corston published her report. Imagine if this list ended here & all parties united to deliver Corston's hopeful vision
#2020by2020
🌈
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Some ideas 4 new Prisons Minister Action Plan:
1. Stop prison build plans.
2. End CRC contracts.
3. Invest in community alternatives to custody & support services.
4. £80m from sale of HMP Holloway for Women’s Centre services.
5. LISTEN to those living & working in the system 🤝
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✨Our trustees are pleased to announce Sonya Ruparel as Women in Prison's new Chief Executive from July 11th.
"It is an honour and a privilege to take up this role and to be able to lead Women in Prison as it continues to deepen its impact.”
More here:
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🎈Today would have been our founder Chris Tchaikovsky's 77th birthday🎈
She was fun, passionate and cared deeply about changing the world for women in touch with the criminal justice system. Her vision and values continue to inspire us & are still at the core of our work today.
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Poverty is one of the root causes of why women get swept up into crime. We can fix this, by providing people with basic needs - like enough universal credit and social housing - we can ensure that women and their families can get the support they need to thrive.
Disappointed to hear the government is planning to withdraw the £20 uplift to Universal Credit. A missed opportunity. The need for a proper, coherent poverty strategy has never been greater. As we emerge from the pandemic, we must support those who have suffered most.
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Big thank you 💐
@LucyBaldwin08
& all involved in this book due out May 1st: Brings home brutal reality of parent’s imprisonment 4 all the family. When a mum goes 2 prison, 9 out of 10 children have 2 leave home 2 go into care or 2 live with relatives.
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This is a rare & brilliant opportunity for a leader with strong feminist values who can help us 2 change the broken criminal justice system: Could you be the new Chair of trustees 4 our strong national campaigning & service providing women’s charity?
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We r deeply saddened 2 hear of tragic deaths of 3 women in prison in recent days. A question usually asked when details emerge is ‘What was she doing in prison in the first place?’ Political will 2 replace the broken system must be backed by urgent action
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Greggs driver stranded on motorway decides everyone needs a free doughnut via
@MetroUK
@GreggsOfficial
also does brilliant work employing people turning their lives around after prison
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“Prison is a dead-end that will never be able to meet people’s mental health needs. Women who are severely unwell are being locked away simply because there aren’t enough beds in mental health facilities.”
-
@klparadine
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A prison sentence doesn't just affect people in prison, but also their families, children & community.
Proposals for harsher sentencing & 500 new prison places risk seeing more families torn apart unless the law changes and judges consider the interests of children
📃 We have today published our report on Children of mothers in prison and the right to family life: The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
Read the press notice and report here ⬇️
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No one should ever be homeless. But many women are homeless when they leave prison. We need urgent investment in social housing so everyone has a safe, warm, stable home to call their own.
Homelessness charities are calling on every political party to
#EndHomelessness
, and to publish a plan setting out how they’ll do this within the first year of government.
Read our joint manifesto and find out how to get involved here:
#GE19
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Today isn't always an easy day, Happy Mother's Day to every mum 💐
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📢 Government plans to build 500 prison places for women will shatter more lives and families. 📢
There is another way - we must invest in local services that stop women from being swept up into crime in the first place.
Join our calls to
#StopThe500
✍️
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Everyone needs access to a working phone whether that's to contact your doctor or keep in touch with loved ones.
Thank you
@VodafoneUK
for providing Pay as You Go SIMs for the women we work with. Unlimited calls & texts for the first six months will make a difference.
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We wish everyone a peaceful and happy Christmas.
We especially send our love to all women in prison and the many women, men and children separated from their loved ones by prison this Christmas.
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Eid Mubarak. We are thinking of families and communities who cannot celebrate with loved ones due to the separation of prison and everyone who is unable to come together safely and peacefully today.
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Today we are thinking of Sarah Everard, her family and friends, as well as all of us who feel the threat of violence today and every day.
More police officers with more powers won’t keep us safe, only ending state and gendered violence will.
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Tonight we think of the 84,746 people in prison: On long, short & indeterminate sentences (including IPP), on remand & immigration grounds & in segregation/solitary confinement. Wishing them peace, hope & the fresh start of a new year 🌅🌈
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The Christmas card appeal is now closed. Please do not send us any more cards - we've had around 5,000 parcels sent to us! Thank you 4 all your support, donations & kind messages which we'll share soon. We'll use all the cards sent but please help us bring to a close! Please RT!
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Two reports from
@PPOmbudsman
have concluded that every pregnancy in prison is high risk.
Prisons by their very nature - of locked doors & guards needed to attend hospital - are not safe places for pregnant women and babies.
This can and must change.
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The Govt are building 500 new women's prison places. This flies in the face of all the evidence that says women are best supported in the community. Let's invest in Women’s Centres that provide an anchor from being swept into crime
Join us &
#StopThe500
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“The cost of...women’s places in prison, the impact on children, the fact that they’ll probably lose their accommodation... There is...no sense in it whatsoever."
@CherieBlairKC
, called for a reduction of the women's prison population via
@thetimes
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We send our deepest thanks 💐🌷🌻to all those working in prisons, communities & supporting people ‘through the gate’ - Including so many charity key workers. Such work is often invisible but life saving, especially now when trauma piles on trauma 4 so many caught up in the system
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Needlessly being swept into the criminal justice system pushes thousands of women away from the support that they need.
Law enforcement cannot be our answer answer to domestic abuse and mental ill-health, but specialist services such as Women's Centres.
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Almost two thirds of women in prison have experienced domestic abuse. We can stop survivors being swept up into crime by investing in community services, like Women Centres, to give women the support they deserve.
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After six successful years, our Chief Executive
@klparadine
is stepping aside.
"It has been the honour of my life to be trusted with leading such a treasured charity"
Read the full statement ⬇️
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This Father’s Day we are sending love 🌷🌻💐 to all the dads, grandads, sons, daughters, grandchildren & all families separated by prison 🤝.
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