Scarlett Roberts’ diary of her four months inside a women’s jail last year is a rare and shocking account of mostly male prison officers allegedly abusing their power over women.
One extract reads: “14th of May, cell 19 after lunch at 12:30. Two officers were arguing with her. She was not violent… There were seven officers in the end, all restraining her in her cell. No officers put bodycams on. One officer kicked her in the chest.”
Her account details the alleged treatment of a youth offender in a cell next door.
Scarlett recalls: “They folded her in two, they brought her arms up behind her back until she was screaming. Then the senior officer kicked her in the chest right before they closed the door. They didn’t let her out for 48 hours.”
She is choosing to speak out about her experience despite the stigma of being a former prisoner.
Her testimony comes on the day a government report into women’s prisons makes eight recommendations that recognise that the Prison Service currently does not offer the support needed for women.
It comes as self-harm rates among female prisoners continue to soar – up 63% this year according to the latest government “safety in custody” statistics.
Officers showed ‘no compassion’ to prisoners
Scarlett was jailed in HMP Eastwood Park in Gloucestershire for perverting the course of justice.
An inspectorate report of the jail earlier this year said levels of self-harm there were “the highest of all women’s prisons”.
It also noted two recent self-inflicted deaths – with two more yet-to-be-classified deaths mentioned in a progress report this September.
Scarlett says conditions in the jail are “not fit for purpose” to ensure the safety and rehabilitation of women prisoners.
She alleges that male staff used disproportionate force against women prisoners to keep them in check and they would also withdraw meals or medical attention as punishment for troublemakers.
She said prisoner self-harm was rife and officers showed no compassion.
“One lady had self-harmed significantly,” she recounts. “There was a lot of blood, and they didn’t dress the wound. They didn’t cover it up. She was bleeding and they gave her a bowl to bleed in. They were like, ‘there you go’.
“When they opened the door, she threw it in distress and as a result got days added on to her sentence.”
The inspectorate report published in February said Eastwood Park had extreme levels of self-harm, a lack of clinical supervision, and acute staff shortages.
It also stated: “The number of times force had been used against women had increased significantly and we were not confident it was always used as a last resort.”
The report added: “The cells were appalling, dilapidated and covered in graffiti, one was blood-splattered, and some had extensive scratches on the walls which reflected the degree of trauma previous residents must have experienced.
“No prisoner should be held in such conditions, let alone women who were acutely unwell and in great distress.”
Staff shortages meant women didn’t spend enough time out of their cells, the report also said.
A cell door at HMP Eastwood Park. Pic: HM Inspectorate of Prisons
Prisoners ‘caged for 23 hours a day’
A subsequent progress report found limited improvements – but some things had gotten worse.
For example, the use of force had increased in the last 10 months.
The conditions are “so inhuman”, Scarlett said.
She added: “You are caged for 23 hours a day – and that’s if there is enough staff to let you out even for one hour. So many days they were like ‘we don’t have enough staff, so no one is getting out today’. And in a space I couldn’t even open my arms wide.”
Clothes and sanitary products also seemed to be in short supply.
Scarlett says she didn’t have underwear for weeks, and had little help from the officer on call when she had her period.
She told Sky News: “He just didn’t know what a tampon was. So, I had to explain to him what they were and then he came back with big sanitary pads and then I had to explain I’m not wearing any underwear.”
Scarlett Roberts was jailed for perverting the course of justice. Pic: Andy Portch
‘You’re watching your life fall apart’
Scarlett is now an exercise physiologist and founded Red: Redemption CIC to provide movement for mental health services for those at risk of self-medication, self-harm and suicidal behaviours.
She’s also written a blog about her experience.
She described how her mental health deteriorated during her four months of incarceration, and you can almost see it illustrated in the way she crossed off the days in her pocket calendar with increasing pressure in the strokes – the last pages are multiple thick lines.
Scarlett said: “Prison should be like a scaffolding is to a building – that it’s a structure, a temporary structure, to help you build a better life for when you come out.
“Instead, it’s a cage – being put in the crumbling building – you’re watching your life fall apart.
“I mean there’s nothing you can do. And then one day you are released, and you are just in the rubble.”
Commenting on this interview, a Prison Service spokesperson said: “Custody is a last resort for women and the number of women in prison has fallen by a quarter since 2010.
“We are investing up to £14m to improve the safety and rehabilitation of women so they can turn their backs on crime for good – including specialist self-harm training for staff, improved mental health services and help into work on release.”
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But the government report published by NHS England on Thursday admitted “the prison environment is experienced as unfit for purpose by many women and health and social care providers”.
It recommends a number of measures including “providing specialist care, support and treatment for women that meet their unique needs, including for example pregnancy and the menopause“.
Recognising that a high number of women in prison are vulnerable and living with trauma, it says the service needs to improve access to services such as talking therapies, and acknowledges prisons are ill-equipped to provide the necessary treatment and care for acutely mentally ill women.
Read more:
Low-level offenders to be freed early to make room in prisons
Should pregnant women be spared jail?
One of UK’s oldest jails ‘unfit’ and ‘inhumane’
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‘A lot of prisons not fit for purpose’
Scarlett believes a much more radical overhaul is needed, including a review of what she describes as an “us and them” relationship between the prison officers and the inmates.
She says: “It’s right to remove people’s freedoms – but a judge does that. That’s what he did with me – he removed my freedom for a period of time – that’s my punishment.
“It is not other people’s job to further punish you by weaponising access to basic necessities – such as healthcare, food – because they see fit or because they personally want to.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK.
