why abolition? >

The criminal justice system is violent and harmful:

• Over 90,000 people are currently in prison in the UK

• 286 deaths in prisons in the 12 months to March 2020

• Policing and prisons enforce unjust inequalities of class and race, targeting working class communities, Black people, Muslims, homeless people, those with mental and physical disabilities, queer, trans and gender non-conforming people and Roma, traveller, gypsy and migrant communities.

The criminal justice system does not reduce harm:

Despite the soaring prison population, violence and harm in society continues on a massive scale. Violence against women and girls is endemic, racism and the far right are on the rise in Britain and rates of murder and violent assaults are beginning to increase again.

• Prisons separate families

• Prisons leave people traumatised

• Prisons don’t address underlying causes of social harm

We can build a world based on social justice, not criminal justice:

Communities are coming together to build real solutions to societal problems. These solutions prevent harm through building a better society. By bringing together groups and organisations working for social justice, we strengthen the links between prison abolition and struggles for housing, health, education and environment; and for economic, racial, gender, sexual and disability justice.