Global Prison Trends 2019 is the fifth edition in PRI’s annual flagship Global Prison Trends series which identifies topical developments and challenges in criminal justice, and prison policy and practice. The report is published in collaboration with the Thailand Institute of Justice, and features a foreword by Cholpon Askerbekovna Omurkanova, Chair of the Public Council of the State Service of Execution of Punishment under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Global Prison Trends 2019 explores:

• Trends in the use of imprisonment, including the use of pre-trial detention as an automatic response to suspects; the ongoing challenge of prison overcrowding; and the steady growth in the number of life-sentenced prisoners around the world.
• Prison populations, such as the specific needs of women, children and LGBTI prisoners.
• Developments and challenges in prison management, including record levels of prisoner violence in a number of prison systems; healthcare challenges and shortages of qualified healthcare staff; and the need to address violent extremism and prevent radicalisation in the prison system.
• The role of technology in criminal justice and prison systems
• The expansion of prison alternatives, including community service orders and electronic monitoring, and a growing trend in the use of restorative justice.

This year, the Special Focus looks at healthcare in prisons and explores the ongoing ‘healthcare deficit’ that is increasingly becoming a major challenge in prisons.

Also included, for the first time, is an infographic giving key information and data about global imprisonment today.

Global Prison Trends 2019 was launched at the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on 21 May 2019.

Read the report here https://www.penalreform.org/resource/global-prison-trends-2019/