MINISTERS have failed to prevent the growing number of deaths in female prisons, a report warned today.

Its analysis found suicide made up 39 per cent of the 59 people who died in women’s prisons in England and Wales between 2018 and 2024.

At least 10 further deaths happened this year, with self-inflicted deaths expected to rise by 21 per cent in the next four years, Inquest’s Built to Harm report said.

The daughter of a vulnerable woman who took her own life in prison after being left without clean underwear for 10 days and denied phone calls with loved ones is among those backing recommendations to dismantle the women’s prison estate.

Neglect and “gross failings” at Eastwood Park prison in Gloucestershire contributed to Kay Melhuish’s death in July 2022, an inquest found last year.

Her daughter Oceana said: “Prison failed mum and me, and it’s failing so many others. No-one should be sent there, not least women who are mentally unwell. People should be cared for and supported, not trapped in cells and forgotten about.”

The charity uncovered recurring systemic issues in its analysis of seven of the deaths, including that of a baby, and official statistics, deaths and self-harm.

They included “repeated failures” to believe women in distress, malfunctioning prison processes, and the routine use of imprisonment as the response to social inequality and trauma.

Inquest executive director Deborah Coles said: “For decades, Inquest has documented the stories of women who have died in prison, after being repeatedly failed and neglected. 

“This report adds to the undeniable evidence that the imprisonment of women is excessive and that women’s prisons are built to harm.”

She urged ministers to dismantle the women’s prison estate and to invest in housing, mental health and domestic abuse services to prevent women coming into contact with the criminal justice system.

“If successive governments had acted on decades of evidence from reviews, bereaved families, research, and inquests to end the imprisonment of women, many of those who died might still be alive today,” she added.

“Lives can only be safeguarded when the government dismantles women’s prisons, and tackles the poverty, inequality and trauma that push women into contact with the criminal justice system.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “These deaths are a tragic example of how the prison system is not working for most women, and our thoughts remain with their loved ones. Many women are victims themselves, often of domestic abuse, and over half are mothers.

“We have established a Women’s Justice Board to advise on reducing the number of women in jail and are changing the law so that more people women will serve their sentences in the community where they will be better supported to turn their lives around.”