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 […]
2nd June 2021
In this blog, Jérôme Mangelinckx considers the drivers and implications of the growing female prison population in Peru, examining the overuse of detention for those awaiting trial, and how to move towards greater use of non-custodial alternatives to detention. 2020 marked the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners […]
26th April 2021
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.
31st March 2021
In this blog, Olivia Rope, Executive Director for Penal Reform International and Vice-Chair of the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice gives her top five takeaways from the Kyoto Declaration which was adopted as the outcome of the 14th UN Crime Congress.
30th March 2021
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 […]
18th February 2021
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. […]
16th February 2021
This expert blog by human rights expert and commentator, Vicki Prais, examines the issues faced by people in prison without proof of legal identity. Vicki explains how the absence of ID can in itself lead to detention for some people, and also causes a range of problems for those detained or leaving prison impacting on […]
9th October 2020
In this expert blog for PRI, Victoria Patrickson, who has studied governmental policy on the management of transgender people in prison, discusses the unique issues faced by this population and the approaches adopted by various governments. Gender identification, housing decisions, searching arrangements, access to healthcare, violence and sexual assault are just a number of the […]
30th September 2020
Prisons and other detention facilities face a whole host of emergencies from environmental and technological hazards, such as tornados or earthquakes. In this expert blog for PRI, as part of our Global Prison Trends series, J. Carlee Purdum, an expert on hazards, disasters and prisons, reflects on how plans need to be developed and adapted […]
29th September 2020
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 […]
25th August 2020