Scotland’s women’s prisons have a history as complex as they are controversial.

From Cornton Vale – once branded “the vale of death” after decades of suicides, overcrowding and failings – tae HMP Stirling, the new jail built in 2023 to replace it, and the Lilias Centre in Glasgow, a unique community-based alternative for women offenders.

This episode uncovers the struggle between punishment and rehabilitation, scandal and reform, showing how Scotland has tried – and often failed – to get women’s imprisonment right.