Women in Prison

Women in Prison

Context:

1- History of women imprisonment- Coercive Confinement, specifically Magdalen laundries

2- Characteristics of women in prison(today) and statistics

3- Complex needs of women prisoners

4- Prison as a ‘respite’ for females and the consequences of this

5- Prison- a different environment for women as opposed to men- female prisoners cannot cope with the pains of imprisonment

6- Women prisoners and their children

7- Women prisoners and their home (as looked at briefly above under complex needs-homelessness)

8- Women prisoners and their health

9- CPT Report 2014 section C- Adult Female Prison Establishments

10- Women prisoners after prison- barriers to re-entering society

11- Conclusion

“Women and men are different. Equal treatment does not mean equal outcomes”- Corston Report (2007)-  discuss. 

1. History of women imprisonment- Coercive Confinement, specifically Magdalen laundries

Prior to the establishment of ‘prison’, Ireland’s way of conducting order of ‘troubled women’ was partially through sending them to the Magdalen Laundries. This institution deemed popular for women whose ‘crimes’ was poverty or mental instability.^[1] The history of Magdalen asylums in Ireland dates back to 1765^[2]. This asylum had a serious effect on many women, and it is crucial to note that no man was placed in the asylum, only women. These women came from all different backgrounds, some were mentally ill, some were pregnant, some were the unwanted surplus of a large family and some were troubled. However, even though all backgrounds were different, all members were equally effected. The majority were treated as slaves, laboured more hours than a man, and all had no rights to act upon. These asylums were not the appropriate place for these women, and for some it cost them their life. An article published in 2012 in the journal.ie called “A life unlived:35 years of slavery in a Magdalene Laundry”^[3] shows us exactly the effect these laundries had on some women. A woman named Margaret Bullen was placed in a laundry and died 35 years later, never having been released into society and her own home^[4].This woman passed away due to an illness known as Goodpasture Syndrome, which is a disease of the kidneys and liver- one of the causes is exposure to industrial-strength chemicals such as those used in the laundries. On February 13th, the Taoiseach made a lengthy speech apologising to survivors of the Magdalen laundries^[5]. This is the history of coercive confinement for women in which it will never be forgotten, nor forgiven.

1. Characteristics of women in prison(today) and statistics

We see that as society changes, so does our penal system.  Magdalene laundries no longer exist, and both men and women are placed in prison. However, they are only placed there if they find themselves given a sentence, not for the same reasons they were placed in the laundries. Nowadays, women represent a small, yet growing proportion of the amount of people committed to prison in Ireland each year^[6]. If we look at fig1, we can see just how

much women imprisonment is growing. [pic 1]fig1.

Women are predominantly imprisoned for non violent offences. For example, in 2009, 82% of women were convicted of non-violent offences^[7]. The statistic for men for conducting violent offences is a lot higher than it is for women. Women offenders often come from a background of poverty and social disadvantaged areas, and often suffer severe mental health problems, drug dependency, poor family relationships and accommodation problems^[8]. We will look at these issues in depth later on.

 There are two female prisons in Ireland, Limerick female prison and the Dóchas Centre, both of medium-security^[9].  On 20th June 2011, there were 129 female prisoners in the Dóchas centre, which had the capacity to hold 85^[10]. 70 additional spaces have opened since 2011. On 20th June, there were 35 female prisoners in Limerick female prison^[11]. The inspector of prisons in 2009 found Limerick prison to be proportionately the most overcrowded prison in Ireland^[12], however we will look at this issue in depth later on.

A qualitative study^[13] done would also suggest that a lot of female prisoners are victims themselves. This study showed that victimization on women began early in life- for example with caregivers or other adults providing them with drugs, alcohol, forcing them to steal or prostituting them. A large number of these women, more than half described events in their lives when they committed defensive assaults. These women claim to have acted in response to being pushed, punched, beaten, raped or slapped. Some women (a smaller number) also described events in their adult lives when they were forced through threats or attacks to commit crimes, such as shoplifting, robbery or murder. Looking at the statistics from this study, as opposed to the statistics of the crimes that men have committed who are serving time, we can somewhat gather that females commit a less serious crime, and are often the victim of their own crime.

1. Complex needs of women prisoners

‘Prison is being used as respite for women with multiple complex needs, when community-based responses would better address women’s offending behaviour’-IPRT. A high volume of research literature would suggest that women who offend tend to be particularly vulnerable in many respects and have a variety range of complex needs. These women come from many different backgrounds (as stated above).  Looking at the picture below, we can see that there have been many stressful life events of women prisoners that more than likely contributed to their conduct. We will look at some of these factors in depth below.