INTERVIEW – WOMEN IN PRISON

RACHEL BRETT
LLB, LLM, HUMAN RIGHTS LAW WITH DISTINCTION

DEIDRA ROBERTS, WHO

Mrs. Brett was invited as an expert to the UN Organization for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) meeting that was co-hosted with the Government of Thailand and held in Bangkok last November. While assisting in writing the seventy new rules to supplement the 1955 UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (“standard rules”), she also made time to revisit personally the Central Women’s Prison in Bangkok, which she had visited in addition to the one in Udon Thani, last year.

Is it discrimination to develop rules for women in prison; should they not be general rules?
The answer is one of human rights. The idea of non-discrimination is you treat like cases alike but also treat unlike cases differently. When the standard rules are applied to women offenders, there are some things that are not the same as male offenders. First, consider that globally only 4–5% of prisoners are women; as a result, you have very few women’s prisons, and women are being over classified. For example, most do not need maximum security, but if you only have one prison then they are often subjected to a higher security regime than their offence warrants. There is also the sheer distance from family. Take the example of Canada. Up to a few years ago there was only one federal women’s prison and it was located in Kingston, Ontario. If a woman was sentenced for two years or more she was sent to the federal prison in Kingston which was too far away for visits by children and family members, or the family had to move too.

What is an example of current gender insensitivity to women in prison?
There is a truism that ‘there is no health without mental health’. Many women prisoners have a prevalence for self-harm and suicide in prison. The ‘classic’ prison response to stop suicide is to remove clothing, bedding and other ‘usable’ items and to place the woman in solitary confinement. This does nothing to address the causes and is quite detrimental in terms of mental health. Violence against themselves is more prevalent among women prisoners as opposed to male prisoners for whom attacks on guards are more common.

All too often, the human rights and basic dignity of women in prison are systematically violated. From all the research on women prisoners (not only QUNO’s), a major recurring complaint is about being stripsearched. There is a range of different issues about it, such as: being searched by men or with men present; routine strip searching (which was only abolished in England in 2009); strip searching before and after family visits and the fact that these sometimes include ’intimate’ searches (of body cavities). If you look at the profile of women prisoners there are particular reasons why this can affect them. Many have suffered from sexual and physical abuse prior to imprisonment, and the experience of strip and intimate searches, and particularly by or with men present, can be re-traumatising. Being denied family contact as a form of punishment is another particular issue. It is time for authorities to recognize that contact between children and their mother is a right not a privilege to be taken away because the mother infringed a prison rule.

Several years ago, BBC News ran a story entitled: Jamaica’s women drug mules fill UK jails. It reported that more than half of all foreign women in UK prisons are Jamaican drug mules. Is that still the case today?
This continues to be a problem although I believe that more of them now are from Nigeria. The economic situation is pushing them into it. Many are single mothers who get into financial trouble. The typical scenario is they get involved in economic problems: A person comes along and lends them some money, then soon demands it back and of course, they do not have it. No problem, the person says, just go to the UK for a couple of days, here is the flight you will take. She is trained and “packed” and off she goes. She leaves the children with the grandmother. It has been suggested that in some countries the drug supplier informs on his carrier and gets a kickback for this.

The new rules call for the rights of children to be considered when sentencing a woman offender. What is an example of how the overall parent-child dynamic can be better safeguarded?
A clear example is South Africa. Its Constitution has a specific provision on taking the best interest of children into account in all judicial proceedings where a child is concerned. The Constitutional Court has ruled that you cannot send a day-to-day ‘caring’ parent to prison without first considering the best interests of the children.

In developed countries inflicted with some of the highest rate of women’s arrests, we hear so much talk about bailouts for incompetent banks, and reducing billionaire bonuses, how do we get news media, among others, to connect the dots to acknowledge their poor who are now shackled by ‘desperation poverty’?
It is not only ‘desperation poverty’ that drives some people to turn to petty theft. The lack of social support, proper mental health provision, and assistance with parenting skills for many women (often with complex mental health, drug/alcohol addiction, and histories of physical and sexual abuse) means that prison becomes an institution of last resort for many who are really in need of help rather than punishment. Sending them to prison does not solve the problems and tends to create another generation of children with disrupted family backgrounds who are in their turn more likely to end up in prison. Very few women are serious violent offenders. When they are violent it is usually against a partner or family member. Furthermore, women on remand constitute a large percentage of the women’s prison population in many countries because they are frequently held pre-trial for longer periods of time than they would during their actual sentence.

Can you recommend how to ensure countries are going to monitor and assess their own performance in applying the new rules, or do you see it being left to international agencies to do the evaluating?
We strove to avoid pitfalls that might give rise to officials being inclined to dismiss a modification out of hand, blaming a peculiar idiosyncrasy of their laws or governing doctrines. This could cause the “entire principle itself” to be passed over based on a technicality. In fact, a number of countries are becoming increasingly aware that they have problems and so will welcome the practical assistance these rules offer. In addition, it is often those working in and around the prisons – prison staff and ministries, local organizations and others – who are keenest to make changes, and this will give them a set of UN tools to which they can refer for authority.

What countries have implemented “best practices” that might be used as models for others?
Many countries from different regions of the world have elements of at least good practice. Spain is just changing its entire system for imprisoned mothers with special housing units with windows at child level and situated so that the children can attend school in the community. I have already mentioned South Africa. India is now required to ensure that a female doctor is available.

Regarding the large number of women in prison who have mental health problems, are there noteworthy community-based partnerships developing positive outcomes?
Thailand runs some very entrepreneurial programmes. Women in prisons there learn handcrafts, sewing, vegetable carving, and so on. Many learn foot massage and are permitted to offer this service in the community, where the handcrafts are also sold. Part of the proceeds that a woman earns are put aside so when she is released there is something to start over with in addition to having learned new skills.