Locking up women with mental health needs.

 The female population in custody has different demographic characteristics to the male population, with 19% being foreign nationals, and 29% being of an ethnic minority compared to 13% and 27% respectively for men (Prison Service, 2010). Half the women in prison have experienced domestic violence, and women are
twice as likely as men to have experienced some form of mental illness in the year preceding their
admission to custody (Singleton et al., 1998).
Sixty-five per cent of imprisoned women have substance use problems, compared to 70% of men (Social Exclusion Task Force, 2009). Worryingly, 83% of women in prison have a longstanding illness, compared with 32% of the general female population, and many are on prescription medication (HM Chief Inspector of
Prisons, 2009).
From a report by the Centre for Mental Health
http://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/pdfs/under_the_radar.pdf