Below is the breakdown of deaths of women in prison by year since 1990. The social implications of incarcerating women are enormous. Women are often imprisoned for minor offences, which can have a terrible impact on their children particularly if they are a single parent. INQUEST conducted a comprehensive research project on deaths of women in prison, and details can be found in the report Dying on the Inside.
An inquest is carried out by a coroner following every death in prison. If someone you know has died in prison we strongly recommend you contact our casework and advice service to make sure the circumstances of the death are properly looked in to.
See also statistics of all deaths in prison in England & Wales 1990-date and our policy pages on deaths in prison.
| Deaths of Women in prison (England & Wales) 1990-date | |||||
| Year | Self-Inflicted | Non-Self-Inflicted | Other Non-natural causes | Awaiting Classification | Total |
| 2013 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2012 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 2011 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2010 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 2009 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 2008 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2007 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 2006 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 2005 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 2004 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 2003 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 2002 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 2001 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 2000 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1999 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 1998 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 1997 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1996 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1995 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1994 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1993 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1992 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 1991 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1990 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total: | 96 | 44 | 4 | 3 | 147 |
Source: INQUEST casework and monitoring
