What does taking ideology seriously in counter-terrorism strategies mean? Liesbeth van der Heide, a senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT), looks at the role ideology plays in the passage to violent extremism. Since 2012, an estimated 5,000 men, women and children have travelled to join conflicts in Syria and Iraq. In […]
3rd April 2018
In 2017 alone, at least 119 people were killed during prison riots in Brazil, while other prisoners have simply disappeared. Henrique Apolinario, a lawyer at Conectas Human Rights, discusses what needs to be done in order to avoid further tragedies and to address the underlying causes of the crisis. 2017 started with terrible news in Brazil. […]
28th March 2018
Educational opportunities and rehabilitation programmes that take the specific needs of women into account are needed in Uganda in order to break the cycles of poverty among women and ensure that they are not left behind, says PRI’s Africa Programme Manager Doreen N Kyazze. There is a growing number of women and girls entering the criminal justice system […]
22nd February 2018
A new study has shown that children who experience parental imprisonment during their youth are more likely to die prematurely. Steve van de Weijer, co-author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), discusses the key findings and possible causes, and looks at […]
13th February 2018
Educational programmes in prison are ‘generally considered to have an impact on recidivism, reintegration and, more specifically, employment outcomes upon release’ (Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Vernor Muñoz). Nina Champion, Head of Policy at Prisoners’ Education Trust, looks at the importance of prison education and the increase in and impact of prison university partnerships […]
9th January 2018
Heather McGill, a researcher currently working on Central Asia for Amnesty International, discusses her recent report on prisoner transportation in Russia, which was launched in October 2017. Prisoners are always at greater risk during transportation, but prison transportation in Russia is in a league of its own. The size of the country combined with the […]
28th November 2017
This Saturday 25th November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The date was designated by the United Nations in 1999, but, almost 20 years on, we see that violence against women is as prevalent as ever – and particularly so for women caught up in criminal justice systems. In this blog Harvey […]
21st November 2017
Today, the fourth edition of the World Female Imprisonment List is published by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR). Catherine Heard, Director of the ICPR’s World Prison Research Programme, discusses the latest data. This week at ICPR we release the most comprehensive global dataset ever produced on women prisoner numbers. The fourth edition of […]
9th November 2017
Detailed safeguards and specialised institutions have been developed to tackle the circumstances in which torture occurs and to establish independent public oversight of places of detention. However, torture and ill-treatment are still widespread. The Omega Research Foundation, a UK-based research organisation, looks at the importance of independent monitors to document and monitor the use of weapons and […]
18th October 2017
To mark the 15th World Day Against the Death Penalty on 10 October 2017, this expert blog by Robin Maher examines the the links between poverty and the use of the death penalty. What does poverty have to do with the death penalty? In a word, everything. There is no greater indictment of the death […]
10th October 2017