The UK prison service is "institutionally sexist", a leading campaign group has claimed.

In a new report the Fawcett Society calls for urgent changes to ensure women are not "shoe-horned" into a service designed with men in mind.

The study calls for amendments to the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act to ensure all public bodies are subject to the legislation.

And community service orders should be tailor-made for women offenders in a move away from custodial sentences, the organisation added.

"We found institutional sexism, with a system designed with men's needs in mind and women shoe-horned into that system," said director Dr Katherine Rake.

"Women remain a minority within the overall prison population and the system was never developed with them in mind."

Re-offending rates for women have increased to match those among men, while the number of women in prison has increased by 3,000 over the past decade.

In the year 2001/02, the number of women in jail increased by 15 per cent, compared to a six per cent increase in the number of men.

Suicide rates have also risen, from just one inmate in 1993 to 13 so far this year.

"Women prisoners face a double disadvantage: they are more likely than male prisoners to have dependent children but are imprisoned further from their families than men and this makes family visits difficult," added Rake.