| Prison Factfile | Prisons Week was formed to pray for and raise awareness of the needs of prisoners and their families, victims of offenders, prison staff and all those who care It consists of representatives of Christian denominations and Christian organisations Prisons week runs from 21st to 27th November
|
The title for this year's Prisons Week is "Justice that Restores". Churches all over the UK will be grappling with the tough issues of crime, punishment and restoration. Revd. Eva Mcintyre is Prison Chaplain at HM Prison Brockhill, near Redditch. She says "the week is about raising awareness of the issues involved for those in prison and those who work with them.
"There are very particular issues for women in prison, and specifically for women at Brockhill". Hear what Revd. Eva Mcintyre had to say when she talked with BBC Hereford and Worcester reporter, Jane Vickers. Although those in prison were on Jesus' priority list - "I was in Prison and you visited me" is one of the criteria for entry to the kingdom of heaven according to Matthew 25 - it has not, in reality, been a central concern for the institutional Church in these lands. Prisons Week offers an opportunity to pray for:
 | | Main gate to HMP Brockhill |
- Those in prison - over 75,000 people and those who care for them.
- Those serving community sentences and those who work with them.
- The families of prisoners.
- The victims of crime.
- Ex-offenders.
|
Those who are involved in programmes of rehabilitation, mediation and restoring community harmony. Of particular concern at this time are those in prison who have mental illness and who self harm and attempt suicide. The increase in the numbers of women in the penal system is also of great concern - women being primary carers leave behind children and other dependants, and the women themselves suffer acutely through being separated from their children. At Brockhill Women's Prison, over 80% of the women have drug addictions and their crimes are directly related to feeding their drug habit. Levels of self-harm are alarmingly high and are linked to the traumatic experiences that the women have experienced during their childhood and adolescence. | "There are very particular issues for women in prison, and specifically for women at Brockhill." | | Revd. Eva Mcintyre |
Too many of the women have long term mental health problems and life in prison, however caring and supportive the staff are, leads to a deterioration in many. Prison Officers, Health Care staff and others do an amazing job supporting the women in their care and saving lives is a matter of their daily work. Revd. Eva Mcintyre says "There is a fairly widely held belief amongst the general public that Prison is a 'holiday camp'. "I can assure you that this is a long way from the truth. "Nor are we anything like 'Bad Girls'". | 
Watch the