By Claudia Vince and Emily Evison

Progression refers to the processes through which people in prison move through the system towards release. This includes engaging in formal programmes and interventions to reduce their risk levels, as well as spending time in different prison spaces, including lower security conditions. Often, progression and risk as concepts are conflated and many prisoners report feeling confused by what is being asked of them. For those serving long sentences, their route to freedom is determined by sentence progression. Therefore, progression is a key concern for people serving long and indeterminate prison sentences. Our previous work has highlighted some challenges faced by long-sentenced prisoners in the male estate, including how prisoners often feel confused and uncertain about how they are meant to progress, and to make positive, productive use of their time. Many prisoners we consulted with noted they spent years – and sometimes decades – feeling stagnant and stuck in the system, unable to engage in meaningful personal development.1 For women serving long sentences, opportunities for meaningful progression are consistently reported as a major concern. A lack of specialist spaces for long-termers, issues surrounding what programmes are available in each prison, and a lack of tailored support from staff mean many women are at a loss in how to progress through their sentence. Our third Invisible Women briefing will focus on the lived reality of how it feels as a woman to serve a long prison sentence, paying attention to the ways the prison service does – and does not – equip women to progress through their sentence towards release. The briefing is the result of long-term consultation work with our Building Futures Working Groups in HMPs Send and Bronzefield, ad hoc groups in HMP New Hall, responses to consultation questions from women in our Building Futures Network, and consultation with a woman now living in the community

London: Prison Reform Trust, 2024. 20p.