On 2 and 3 February 2026, together with RUBIKON Centrum (Czech Republic) and Silta (Finland), RESCALED organised a two-day WOMEN x RESIZE international workshop.
The central question guiding the event was: How can detention houses better respond to the specific realities and needs of incarcerated women?
Around 30 participants from 10 European countries took part, representing academia, people with lived experience, prison and probation services, architects, practitioners and volunteers. Participants engaged in interactive sessions, knowledge exchange, and peer learning on topics including motherhood in detention, recovery-oriented support, staff competencies, and the ecosystem of a detention house.
Day 1 explored how detention houses respond to women’s realities in practice, with a focus on autonomy, safety, substance use, family life, and upscaling. Quote-based discussions connected insights from policy, practice, lived experience, and research, linking individual cases to system-level challenges.
Interactive session 1: perspectives on safety & security
Discussions were framed by the following reflections:
“Detention houses often promise autonomy, but in practice autonomy is still tightly negotiated and conditional.”
“Gender-responsive and trauma-informed approaches sound great on paper, but in practice they can sometimes lead to more control, longer stays, or placing responsibility on women rather than on the system.”
“When electronic monitoring is added to small-scale, more open detention settings, it raises questions about whether openness is expanded or replaced by additional layers of surveillance and control.”
Key insights highlighted that structure and autonomy are not opposites. Clear frameworks can create safety and comfort while still leaving room for individual autonomy. However, how this autonomy is applied depends strongly on governance arrangements, national context, and the discretionary space available to staff. Tensions were particularly visible around substance use, where approaches range from zero tolerance to case-by-case responses, often constrained by limited recovery-oriented alternatives.
Participants concluded that structural change is essential. More differentiated small-scale detention houses are needed to improve accurate placement, making recovery prioritised responses to rule-breaking possible. Amongst others, the need for alignment in national policies on drug use in society and during a prison sentence was mentioned. Clear governance, staff discretion, and formally recognised training, supervision, and intervision are key conditions for working effectively with women.
Interactive session 2: perspectives on family & motherhood
This session focused on family relationships, motherhood, and the implications of scaling up small-scale detention:
“Detention houses may ease separation from children, but they do not automatically prevent harm to family relationships.”
“Initiatives designed to support mothers in detention can unintentionally place responsibility for reintegration primarily on women themselves (who is the village?). Expectations of ‘good motherhood’ may increase pressure rather than reduce it.”
“Scaling up small-scale detention facilities may change their meaning and impact. What works well as a small initiative may lose its effectiveness when institutionalised or expanded.”
Day 1 marked the launch of the RESCALED Academy, a new platform for collective learning, as well as the Knowledge Workspace on Women in Detention. The workspace brings together knowledge from evidence, practice, and lived experience through storytelling, resources, and examples of inspirational practices.
Day 2 focused on the ecosystem of a detention house: its connection to people, culture, systems, and structures, and how these relationships shape daily practice, and are shaped by it in return.
The RESIZE project was presented, with a focus on staff skills and competencies, staff profiles, and relational and dynamic security. Country profiles developed within RESIZE illustrated how correctional ecosystems function at different levels across Europe. The presentation also introduced relevant European competency frameworks, such as ESCO, as reference points for identifying and mapping required skills and competencies within detention facilities and in the broader professional context.
Building on this presentation, an interactive discussion explored key questions emerging from the project. A central theme concerned the identification of learners within the ecosystem of detention facilities and the ways in which learning takes place across different roles, functions, and system levels. The discussion further addressed the core skills and competencies required for staff working in detention facilities. Participants highlighted that similar roles in small-scale detention settings often exist under different job titles across countries, and that no shared European model currently defines positions such as the “key worker.” At the same time, the boundary between “inside” and “outside” staff is increasingly fluid, with community services and external partners playing a central role in daily practice.
Safety and security were discussed extensively, highlighting considerable variation across small-scale detention facilities. No single model or general conclusion could be drawn. While participants broadly agreed that safety often emerges from relationships, clarity, and care alongside formal rules and procedures, the organisation of responsibilities differs significantly. In some facilities, safety is a shared responsibility among all staff; in others, specific staff members are designated to oversee procedural or static security. At the same time, staff working directly with residents, such as case managers, contribute to everyday safety through relational practices, even if they are not formally defined as security staff.
The session also underlined the importance of the wider ecosystem surrounding detention houses, including mental health services, volunteers, housing providers, and community organisations. Participants emphasised the need for effective collaboration, as well as ongoing investment in training, supervision, and team reflection. The day concluded with the shared understanding that working within a small-scale detention facility is ultimately shaped by people, culture, and leadership rather than systems or models alone, and that security should be understood as the result of good practice, not a separate action.
The day also featured a guest lecture by Humanitas Nederland, highlighting recovery-oriented support through the Herstelmaatje project, in which trained volunteers provide restorative, buddy-based support to (formerly) incarcerated people.
The RESCALED Academy supports collective learning and knowledge development on small-scale, differentiated, and community-integrated detention houses. → visit the academy
WOMEN (Workspace for Mapping, Engaging, and Networking with, for, and by Incarcerated Women) is a one-year transnational collaboration between RESCALED Europe, Silta-Valmennusyhdistys ry (Finland), and RUBIKON Centrum (Czech Republic). → read more
RESIZE – Reshaping Correctional Competencies through RESCALED Innovation is a four-year European collaboration led by CPIP Romania, bringing together 24 partners. As one of the 8 EU’s Blueprint Alliances, RESIZE promotes a more humane and effective approach to detention by strengthening staff competencies through micro-credentialing, certification, and recognition of prior learning. → read more