Blog

Nature-based detention houses

In a context of climate crisis and rising costs, prisons, like all institutions, must take action to be more sustainable and minimise impact on the environment. In this blog, Wiep Fokker from Restorative Justice Netherlands makes the case for nature-based detention houses as an ecologically sustainable model for penal reform. The climate and biodiversity crisis […]

Wiep Fokker24th October 2023

A rare assessment of the penal system in North Korea

Due to extreme secrecy and opacity in official information, very little is known about the penal system in North Korea. As the Human Rights Council considers the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and the European Parliament condemns the human rights situation in […]

Hae Ju Kang20th April 2022

Prisons and food: From in-cell eating and meal-lines to collective and domestic kitchens

People in prison lose autonomy and agency over many aspects of their lives, usually including food production and consumption. In this blog, Sabrina Puddu examines the different approaches taken to food in prisons, looking at trends from eating alone in cells, to dining halls, and collective and domestic style kitchens. Collective kitchens are witnessing a […]

Sabrina Puddu2nd June 2021

Healing-centered justice: ending extreme sentencing of women

In the fourth blog of our series marking the tenth anniversary of the UN Bangkok Rules, Laura Ann Douglas examines extreme sentencing of women - what is driving the increase, what impact it has on the women serving these sentences, and how the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and its partners are working with women who have served extreme sentences to advocate for healing-centered justice.

Laura Ann Douglas31st March 2021

Covid-19 in prisons: why prioritising staff and prison populations for vaccination matters

Distribution of Covid-19 vaccines should be guided by evidence and based on the principle of harm reduction. In this blog, experts from the University of Oxford consider why prison populations and staff should be prioritised in national vaccination programmes, what is happening so far and the challenges to their inclusion in some places. Prisons have […]

Gabrielle Beaudry, Daniel Whiting and Seena Fazel18th February 2021

Period poverty in prisons: ensuring menstrual hygiene and dignity in India

In this expert blog, Anju Anna John considers menstrual hygiene provision for women in prison and interventions to assess needs, raise awareness of women’s entitlements and best practices, and improve access to sanitary products in places of detention. This is the third blog in PRI’s latest series marking ten years of the UN Bangkok Rules. […]

Anju Anna John16th February 2021

Depopulate, Single Cell, Test: Finding the evidence base for strategies to control COVID-19 transmission in a large urban jail

Over 240,000 people in prison in 110 countries have tested positive for COVID-19 to-date. Seven months after the pandemic was declared, many detention facilities around the world are still struggling to prevent and respond to outbreaks of the virus. In this expert blog, as part of PRI’s series exploring trends in Global Prison Trends 2020, […]

Giovanni Malloy, Lisa Puglisi, Margaret Brandeau, Tyler Harvey and Emily Wang15th October 2020

La COVID-19 marginalise encore plus les personnes en détention dans des pays vulnérables

La pandémie de la  COVID-19 continue de sévir à travers le monde et aucun pays n’est épargné. En Afrique, son impact varie d’un pays à un autre et les pays en situation post-conflit en sont durement éprouvés. C’est le cas de la République centrafricaine, pays en phase de reconstruction et de stabilisation avec la présence […]

Oscar Ouedraogo25th August 2020

COVID-19 pandemic further marginalises people in places of detention in the most vulnerable countries

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world and no country is being spared. In Africa, the impact of the virus varies from one country to another but post-conflict countries have been severely hit. In Central African Republic, where PRI is closely collaborating with United Nations mission MINUSCA to support reconstruction and stabilisation efforts […]

Oscar Ouedraogo25th August 2020