A private prison routinely strip-searched women and used force far too often, an official inspection report has found.
Peterborough jail was also found to be “not sufficiently safe” for prisoners – the first time in several years a women’s prison has been failed in this category by HM Inspectorate of Prisons.
The prison is the second run by the outsourcing giant Sodexo to be accused of misusing strip-searching. Last year BuzzFeed News revealed that vulnerable women, including rape victims, were routinely subjected to illegal full-body searches at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey.
In Peterborough inspectors found strip-searching was used “extensively” with “numerous examples of where this had been unnecessary”. So many women were having full-body searches on arriving at the prison that in one nine-week sample, 70 women were strip-searched in reception. Inspectors said this was “far more than we usually see in a women’s prison”.
Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, told BuzzFeed News: “Routine strip-searching of women in prison is unacceptable and unjustified.
“Given many women in prison are survivors of rape and other forms of physical and sexual violence, this report on the overuse of strip-searching raises serious questions for Sodexo and for the Ministry of Justice in allowing this state of affairs to fester.
“In her 2007 report on the treatment of women in the penal system, Baroness Corston called for this shameful practice to end. It is shocking that it is still happening more than a decade later.”
Inspectors found that while other aspects of the prison were positive, such as learning and resettlement, there was particular concern about the use of strip-searching and force.
One woman who self-harmed was forced to sleep in paper strip-searching clothes for several weeks in an arrangement that had become routine. Force had been used to get her into strip-clothing “without sufficient justification”, inspectors said.
They added: “Documentation suggested that strip-clothing was used to manage self-harming behaviour, rather than in an immediate crisis, and its prolonged use was a concern.”
The prison’s policy of using strip searches as the primary way of finding contraband was also illegal, according to inspectors. They described it as “in direct conflict with both Prison Service instructions and the trauma-informed approach”. They also described there being no management oversight of the number of searches or why senior managers did not authorise them.
Jenny Earle, who leads a Prison Reform Trust programme to reduce women’s imprisonment, said: “Strip-searching is a known risk for re-traumatising vulnerable women, many of whom will have experienced sexual or physical abuse. Yet the inspectorate found numerous examples where its use was entirely unwarranted. Peterborough's policy of routine strip-searching should be revised as a matter of urgency, and the prison brought into line with existing good policy and practice for working with women in prison.”
Inspectors said the use of force was “far too high at more than double what we usually see in women’s prisons”. They also said they “saw examples where not every opportunity to de-escalate the situation had been used”.
The strip-searching and use of force came despite the fact that 66% of women told inspectors they had a mental health problem, a figure inspectors said “was extremely high”.
Peterborough is the only prison in the country that houses men and women on the same site and inspectors were concerned that the women’s wing was being neglected. Peter Clarke, HM chief inspector of prisons, said: “We had concerns that instability on the male side was affecting the prison’s ability to focus sufficiently on the relatively more settled female prison.”
Women reported feeling less safe than in similar prisons. For example, 28% said they felt unsafe at the time of the inspection, compared with 17% in similar prisons and 12% at the last inspection of Peterborough.
Overall, 60% of women said they had felt unsafe at some time and “a large proportion of women” reported verbal abuse and threats and intimidation. Inspectors said: “We were particularly concerned about safety, and this is the first women’s prison in several years to have been assessed as ‘not sufficiently good’ in this area.”
Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon MP said Sodexo had “urgent questions to answer as to why this privately run prison is the first women’s jail in years deemed not sufficiently safe”.
He added: “Inspectors have raised serious concerns, so we need the government to give us assurances that profit is not being put before women prisoners’ safety.”
Michael Spurr, chief executive of HM Prison and Probation Service, said: “Sodexo have responded swiftly and positively to the chief inspector’s report. There is a renewed focus on the specific needs of the women, and a dedicated operational manager has been appointed to drive safety improvements. The positive outcomes for purposeful activity and resettlement demonstrate that high-quality work continues to be delivered at Peterborough and we will work closely with Sodexo to ensure the weaknesses identified in the chief inspector’s report are addressed.”
An HMP Peterborough spokesperson said: “We welcome the chief inspector’s report for the female side of HMP Peterborough. The report recognises that early-days support for women was good, support for women with complex needs was goo,d and that the prison environment was excellent. We are pleased to be recognised as one of the few prisons in the country to achieve a ‘good’ Ofsted rating for learning and skills.
“We are disappointed to receive a lower score for safety. Following the inspection, we have implemented an action plan addressing all recommendations. The plan includes actions which improve our levels of governance around searches and use of force, actions which further explore feedback around perceptions of safety and a robust improvement programme for healthcare provision.
“The award of the highest score for resettlement shows that we are continuing to change women’s lives for the better through positive rehabilitation.”