Dec
The coronavirus pandemic and the measures implemented to control it have had an extraordinary impact on society.
Prisons are no exception, with the number of people incarcerated in penal institutions dropping significantly across the globe.
These reductions are, however, not uniform. In France, the prison population fell from 72,000 to 59,000, a drop of nearly a fifth, in a matter of months. England and Wales saw a more modest fall of five per cent, decreasing from nearly 84,000 before the lockdown in March to just over 79,000 now.
In this webinar we explore changes to prison populations across a selection of European states asking the following:
- How have prison populations changed in different European countries during the pandemic?
- What factors have impacted these changes?
- What are the implications for managing the virus in prisons and handling or preventing future outbreaks?
- What are the implications for reforms aimed at reducing the prison population in future?
Speakers include:
- Matt Ford (England and Wales), Research Analyst at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies
- Emma Jardine (Scotland), Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Howard League Scotland
- Cécile Marcel (France), Director at the Observatoire International des Prisons
- Alessio Scandurra (Italy), Coordinator of Antigone's Observatory on Prison Conditions
Watch the event
This event is part of the Centre’s COVID-19 in prisons project, funded by the Hadley Trust.
