Thirty two women die following restraint

Woman in jail cellsources: Mental Health Today
published: 3 July 2018

Thirty two women died after experiencing restraint over a five year period, according to new figures obtained by Agenda, an alliance for women and girls at risk.

The data, on patients detained under the Mental Health Act, suggests women were more likely to have restraint-related deaths than men between 2012/13 and 2016/17.

Younger women made up a large number of the restraint-related deaths – 13 were aged 30 and under, compared to four men in that age range.

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Custody visits by members of the public failing to hold police to account

Woman in a cellsource: The Conversation
published: 30 April 2018

Custody in police stations is a very locked-down affair. People who have been arrested and are detained spend most of the time isolated in their cells. Custody visitors, the only outsiders who get to see the detainees, are neither respected by the police nor trusted by the detainees.

“My recent research has revealed serious problems in the system of monitoring police custody, now known as the Independent Custody Visiting Scheme. This scheme, run locally by Police and Crime Commissioners, enables members of the public to make random, unannounced visits to check on the welfare of the detainees in police custody” [says author, John Kendall].

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Antisemitic incidents [recorded] in UK at an all-time high

Religion Jewishsource: Guardian Society
published: 1 February 2018

There were 1,382 antisemitic incidents recorded nationwide in 2017 by the Community Security Trust. This was the highest tally that the trust, a charity that monitors antisemitism, has registered for a calendar year since it began gathering such data in 1984.

The figure rose by 3%, compared with a total, in 2016, of 1,346 incidents – a tally that itself was a record annual total.

There was no obvious single cause behind the trend, the trust said.

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