Women more likely to be restrained then men in facilities

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This report is based on Freedom of Information requests sent to all 58 mental health trusts1 in England on the use of physical and face-down restraint against women and girls. The findings are summarised below:
Adult Mental Health Services:
 Around 1 in 5 women (6,393 female patients) admitted to mental health facilities were physically restrained, despite guidance it should be used as a last resort.

 Nearly 2,000 women (6.3 per cent) were restrained face-down. However, there were more than 4,000 incidents of face-down restraint against women, which is more than that for men, suggesting individual women patients were more likely to be repeatedly restrained in this way.

 This varied hugely by area, with women much more likely than men to be restrained by some trusts. In one, more than half of female patients were physically restrained after admission.


Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)2:
 Nearly 1 in 5 girls (17 per cent) admitted to CAMHS facilities were physically restrained. They were more likely to be restrained than boys (13 per cent).

 8.1 per cent (180) of girls were restrained face-down (compared to 5.7 per cent - or 72 - boys).
 Girls were restrained face-down more than 2,300 times and were likely to face this repeatedly – with
some trusts reporting an average of more than a dozen face-down restraints per female patient.

 There was huge regional variations in the use of restraint against girls. In one trust nearly three
quarters of girls were restrained, with nearly a third restrained face-down; in others face-down restraint was not used at all.


Women and girls’ mental health is closely linked to their experiences of violence and abuse - more than half of women with mental health issues have experienced abuse. The links are particularly pronounced for more serious mental health conditions. So, not only is physical restraint, particularly face-down, frightening and humiliating, it can also be re-traumatising for those with a history of abuse.