Custom essays on Women in Prison and Children of Imprisoned Mothers

Shared facilities. Women with diverse needs and a history of offending may be inappropriately held together under the same security regime. Sometimes women awaiting trial are held with women who have been sentenced, which is contrary to best practice. Women who are detained in prisons which also hold men may be required to share facilities and attend classes with male prisoners. This is not a suitable environment for women who have experienced abuse or require strict separation from men (Clark. 2009).
Overcrowding. Prisons are often overcrowded and offer reduced exercise facilities, and time spent out of cells. This pressure may also reduce the numbers of available rehabilitative programs – educational, vocational, counseling – as well as of drug and alcohol dependency programs.
Education, training and work. Prisons may offer a range of educational and work opportunities – compulsory work or voluntary work (either paid or unpaid). In single-sex prisons where there are few women, access to education, training and work opportunities may be severely limited. In mixed-sex prisons women may be required to attend classes or work with male prisoners. This may be unsuitable and even threatening for some women.
In some countries, women prisoners are given traditionally feminine jobs, such as catering or sewing. This is not a problem if there is a market for such skills outside the prison but jobs should not be allocated simply because of the gender of the prisoner. Women whose children live with them in prison may not be able to work or take education courses if there are no childcare facilities. Opportunities for prisoners awaiting trial and sentenced prisoners may also differ significantly.
5. Physical health & health care
General health and health care. Women prisoners suffer poor physical and mental health at rates and with a severity far exceeding those of male prisoners or of women in the general population. Some of this may be related to the reasons why they have been imprisoned, for example drug use and hence drug dependency and associated health problems. Sexual abuse and exploitation of women before and during imprisonment can lead to gynaecological problems, HIV and other sexuallytransmitted diseases, pregnancy, child-birth or abortion (Chesney-Lind. 1997).
Disease in prisons. Diseases and infections associated with overcrowding and poor health and hygiene conditions such as tuberculosis, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS, are additional risks for women in prisons.
Drug and alcohol addiction. Prisoners are more likely to suffer from drug/alcohol addiction than in the community at large. Existing research indicates that 75% of women who go to European prisons are already drug and alcohol users and that female prisoners are more likely to be addicted to harder drugs than male prisoners.
Health care provision. Standards of medical care within prisons vary greatly both from country to country and from prison to prison. When health care facilities are outside the prison they may offer better standards of provision, but they may create other problems such as:
– The shame and discomfort for women of being taken there in prison clothing or in handcuffs, particularly if they have to wait in public areas within the hospital.
– Shortages of prison staff reducing the availability of escorts for women to attend hospital.
– Male prison staff accompanying female prisoners and being present during medical consultations and examinations.
– Perceived lack of security in civilian institutions leading to women being shackled to beds, even during child-birth.
Sexual health. Universally HIV among women prisoners is higher than in the general population.
HIV positive women risk passing the disease onto their babies and unborn children. Women’s high rates of drug addiction expose them to the risk of catching HIV through sharing needles.
Female health and hygiene. The prison may not provide for the sanitary needs of women or women may have to pay for their own sanitary provision.
Women who are menstruating or going through the menopause need regular daily showers. It is offensive for women to have to use washing and toilet facilities in the presence of other people, especially during menstruation. They should also be able to change their bed linen frequently.
Older women may go through the menopause while imprisoned, and their medical and/or psychological needs need to be identified and met at this time.
They may also have particular health care needs such as hormone replacement therapy or food supplements (Eaton. 1993).
Pregnancy and childbirth. Pregnant women in prisons need special resources and attention to diet, exercise, clothing, medication and medical care.
Prison is not an easy place to be pregnant and the inflexibility of a prison regime is incompatible with the needs and care of a pregnant body.
– It is more difficult to catch up on missed sleep and missed meals and hard to take baths or showers as often as needed.
– It may be difficult for the prison to transport prisoners to health care checks and scans, ante-natal classes and post-natal care.
– Ante-natal and post-natal care may not be seen as medical priorities by prison staff.
– It may be difficult for a prisoner to see a midwife.
– Alerting staff to a medical problem, even the onset of labour, may be difficult, particularly at night.
– The stress of imprisonment can have a deleterious impact on the development of a pregnancy.
– Restraining pregnant women in the same way as other women prisoners may endanger both the woman and the fetus.
6. Mental health. Mental health problems are more spread among women prisoners than in the prison for men or in the general prison. A lot of women have problems with lower-level of mental health, such as personality disorder, which do not qualify them for a psychiatric bed. Such women may need access to treatments and therapy designed specifically for them, and even in women-only prisons conditions may not be ideal. Women can be extremely worried about what will happen to their children, especially in the early stages of detention. Research has suggested that this can exacerbate or bring on mental health problems (Landau. 2004).