Self-harm incidents in prisons falls by 25%

The decrease in self-harming incidents came in the same year that the prison population grew by an estimated 8%. File picture

There was a 25% fall in the number of incidents of self-harm in Irish prisons in 2019, according to a new report which reveals the self-harming rate among women prisoners actually increased.

The third report from the Self-Harm Assessment and Data Analysis (SADA) Project on self-harm in Irish prisons found there were 203 episodes recorded in 209, down a quarter compared with 2018, and involving 109 individuals – 27% fewer than in the previous year.