Agenda Item Two
Women Prisoners

Introduction

The written and oral presentations to the conference, in one way or another, repeated the well-established fact that in all prison systems around the world women prisoners constitute a small minority of the total prisoner population. There is considerable variation, however, between nations in the relative size of the female proportion.

It can be calculated from the statistical returns submitted by delegates before the opening of the conference, that for the whole of the Asia and Pacific region, women prisoners constitute 5.1 per cent of the total number of all prisoners. Higher than average proportions are seen in the figures for Thailand (17.4 per cent), Hong Kong (China) (10.4 per cent), Macau (China) (8.7 per cent) and Singapore (8.2 per cent). At the other extreme the proportions are very low in the Pacific island nations of Fiji (1.4 per cent), Tonga (1.5 per cent) and Kiribati (1.8 per cent). All of the other nations in the region have proportions of women prisoners which are between these extremes.

The delegate representing Tuvalu informed the conference that, in his country, there was currently a total of six male prisoners and there had been no women imprisoned for the past 15 years.

It would be interesting to speculate as to the reasons for these marked differences, and, at a glance, it seems that less highly developed nations have lower proportions of women prisoners. Conversely, it seems that nations with a high level of socio-economic development generally have higher proportions of women prisoners. However, cultural and historical considerations must also be relevant as not all nations fit this pattern.

All of the presentations to the conference also, in different ways, made the point that women prisoners have special needs, particularly with regard to health care, substance abuse, and family responsibilities. These are subjects which will be considered more closely later in this chapter.

Recent Trends in the Numbers of Women Prisoners

Many delegates reported, or stated in their national reports, that they had experienced extreme increases in the numbers of women prisoners which were the cause of management concern. In Australia for example, there have been increases in all jurisdictions except South Australia, while in New Zealand the female prison population has increased by 162 per cent between June 1986 and June 2000. In Thailand the rate of increase in the female prisoner population has dramatically exceeded the equivalent rate for male prisoners, and this trend is predicted to continue. Even in Japan, where prison populations generally are very stable, there has been an increase in the number or women prisoners of 44 per cent over the past six years.

In Malaysia the number of women prisoners has fluctuated over the past decade, but in the past two years the numbers have doubled, while in Singapore, since 1993, there has been an increase in female penal offenders, but not in female drug addicts. In Cambodia, there has been no apparent marked increase in women prisoners, while in Kiribati the number of women prisoners is kept very small by the common practice of the courts suspending the sentence if the offender is female. In Brunei Darussalam, the total number of women prisoners has remained relatively stable for the past four years, but in most years the clear majority are foreigners.

Problems of Geographical Dislocation

In many nations, the fact that there are relatively small numbers of women prisoners, and the policy of maintaining strict segregation of male and female prisoners, has resulted in the unfortunate consequence of women prisoners often being held in prisons further away from their homes than male prisoners. In Japan, for example, there are only six prisons for women in the nation and many women prisoners are in institutions far away from their homes and families. In order to compensate for this separation, travel expenses are paid to the women on release.

In Canada, until recent times, the situation with regard to geographic dislocation was even worse as there was only one federal prison for women in the whole country. There are now, however, a number of different federal prisons for women in different regions of Canada, and in some provinces arrangements have been made for federal women prisoners to serve their sentences in provincial institutions, if the facilities and programs are regarded as suitable.

In New Zealand, where there are three prisons for women, the 1999 Prison Inmate Census showed that 63 per cent of women prisoners were imprisoned away from their home regions, compared with 46 per cent of men.

Offences Leading to Imprisonment

It was widely reported to the conference that women generally do not commit the same offences as men, but there seems to have been a coming together of male and female offence patterns in recent years. In particular, it seems that a greater degree of violence is now associated with female crime than was the case some years ago. However, a background of illegal drug use seems to be common in a number of nations in the region. In Japan, for example, 46 per cent of women are admitted to prison for offences related to stimulant drugs. In Mongolia, on the other hand, 42 per cent of the female prison population were said to be murderers.

The New Zealand report suggests that women prisoners are mostly in prison for violent, property or drug offences, and that they are disproportionately Maori. Most have significant histories of drug or alcohol abuse, were under 30 years of age, often living alone with at least one dependent child, serving their first sentence of imprisonment and have at least six previous convictions. Similarly in Canada, the profile of women offenders incarcerated and under community supervision indicates that only a small minority were married, that Aboriginal women were over-represented, that 18 per cent were convicted of either first or second degree murder, and almost exactly one half fell into the 20 - 34 years age group.

Special Needs of Women Prisoners

Some of the special needs of women prisoners are indicated by the profiles from New Zealand and Canada summarised above, but there are many others relating to different aspects of health care. In particular, issues relating to pregnancy, childbirth, contraception, menstruation and lesbian relationships are of more or less greater relevance in individual cases.

It is also now becoming increasingly recognised that many women prisoners were themselves the victims of sexual, physical or emotional abuse earlier in their lives. It was reported to the conference that research in Canada had established that these background factors could be found in over 80 per cent of women prisoners in that country, and the proportion was even higher for Aboriginal women prisoners. A similar picture was presented for Mongolia.

Mothers and Babies

All conference participants who spoke, or made written submissions, on this subject indicated that arrangements were made for pregnant women prisoners to deliver their babies in public hospitals, rather than in prison. This ensured that professional obstetric assistance was available and also avoided the stigma of having a prison named as the place of birth on the birth certificate.

There was no consensus, however, on whether or not mothers in prison should be allowed to keep their babies with them, and, if so, for how long. In Malaysia and in the Canadian federal system, mothers are permitted to keep their babies with them in special units in prison for a period of up to four years. The maximum period in Singapore and in Hong Kong (China) is three years, but the mother is encouraged to make other arrangements before that time. (Also, in Singapore, an 8-week parenting course is offered to women prisoners who are young mothers). In Japan, mothers are allowed to keep their babies with them for up to one year, while in Kiribati the baby may only stay while the mother is lactating.

In Australia, each of the six states and the Northern Territory have facilities for babies and young children to stay with their mothers (but not in every prison in each jurisdiction), and the age limit for young children to stay varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The upper limit for a child to stay is six years (Victoria) and the lower limit is one year (Tasmania), but in each jurisdiction the chief executive has considerable discretion to act in the best interests of the baby or young child.

In Korea, mothers can keep their babies with them in prison for up to 18 months, while the specified limit in Indonesia and Vietnam is two years. In Brunei Darussalam and Thailand, the upper limit is three years. The age limit for children to stay with their mothers is not specified in Cambodia, but the regulations provide for a mother with a baby to receive an extra one half of the adult food ration.

In contrast to the nations mentioned above, New Zealand, as a matter of policy, does provide facilities for babies to stay with their mothers in prison. As an alternative, early release or temporary release may be granted to prisoner mothers, but if this is not practicable, arrangements are made for daily visits to the prison by the baby for breast-feeding in an appropriate setting. Arrangements will also be made where necessary for mothers to express their milk for delivery to the baby located elsewhere.

Similarly, in the Peoples Republic of China, the Prison Law provides that convicted female criminals who are pregnant or breast-feeding their children may not be taken into custody, and the Criminal Prosecution Law provides that such female offenders may serve their terms outside prison. Also, in Mongolia women prisoners who give birth are allowed home for 18 months to care for their babies and then return to prison.

Work Opportunities

The information provided to the conference suggests that there is a clear tendency for women prisoners to be offered work and vocational training which is restricted to domestic situations. For example, women prisoners in Vietnam may be offered work in tailoring, knitting, handicrafts, fine arts or weaving, and in Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam a similar range of work and training is offered. In Japan, however, in addition to the domestic-type work opportunities, training is also offered to women prisoners in fork lift driving and boiler operation. Also in Japan, training to obtain a license for care service for the elderly is very popular with women prisoners and is very useful in obtaining employment after release.

Education, Training and Treatment

As indicated above, there is a tendency in most nations in the region for women prisoners to be offered vocational training which has a domestic orientation and which is not necessarily geared to the needs of the outside labour market. This tendency is also seen in the offering of training in beauty treatment, hairdressing, cooking and secretarial skills. Many other nations, however, are making increasing efforts to expand the opportunities for women prisoners, within the limits of the cultural or traditional expectations of the nations involved.

As far as treatment is concerned, the evidence presented to the conference suggested that women prisoners require a much wider range of medical, psychological and psychiatric treatment than do male prisoners. These needs require a wide range of responses. In the federal system of Canada, for example, women prisoners are offered programs of living skills (cognitive skills, parenting, anger management, and leisure education), substance abuse programs, literacy and continuous learning programs and survivors of abuse and trauma programs, as well as access to mental health services, spirituality and religion, vocational and recreational activities.

It was reported from Australia, Canada and New Zealand, that women prisoners were increasingly being housed in self-care facilities in which they were responsible for their own cooking, cleaning and laundry requirements. Also, for indigenous offenders in these nations, holistic treatment based on healing lodges is provided.

The Staffing of Women's Prisons

In the clear majority of the nations in the Asia and Pacific region, a strict policy is pursued which requires women's prisons, or women's section of mixed prisons, to be staffed only by female officers. In a small number of nations, however, a policy of cross gender staffing has been developed which allows male officers to work in female prisons, and, conversely, female officers to work in male prisons. There are always, however, regulations which ensure that searching and the supervision of ablutions, is undertaken by same-sex officers.

It has been suggested that cross gender staffing of both male and female prisons has created an atmosphere which is closer to that found in the outside community and has resulted in generally improved behaviour and language of prisoners. Examples of cross gender staffing of prisons may be found in Australia and Canada.

Contact Between Male and Female Prisoners

The clear majority of nations in the Asia and Pacific region follow a policy of strict segregation of male and female prisoners. In Sri Lanka, for example, male and female prisoners are strictly separated and females under 22 years are separated from adult females. There are a few exceptions, however, where contact between male and female prisoners is permitted, and, sometimes, even encouraged. In the Australian Capital Territory and in Tasmania, for example, there is some contact between men and women in educational classes and also for special visiting. Special visits under supervision might be arranged, for example, in situations where a husband and wife are both in prison, either on remand or under sentence.

The delegates from Korea and Vietnam reported that conjugal visits, where wives are allowed to stay overnight with their husbands, are permitted as a privilege in their countries. Similar arrangements may be made for female prisoners. In Victoria, Australia, private family visits are permissible in most of the prisons in that state, and the federal system in Canada also provides for private family visits. However, none of the countries in the region allow extended private visits where both the husband and wife are prisoners.

Future Possibilities

The representative of UNAFEI, the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, made a general comment on the discussion of this agenda item. He pointed out that the 10th UN Congress held in Vienna earlier in 2000 included a workshop on females in the criminal justice system. This workshop discussed women in prison and referred to the perceived lack of programs for women, compared with men. The workshop considered women as offenders, women as victims and women as staff members. He suggested that in future there would be a more integrated approach to these three themes.

It is also likely in the future that, within the limits of cultural expectations, there will be greater efforts to provide women prisoners with vocational training and work opportunities that are more relevant to the outside market. Also, it is likely that even greater attention will be paid in the future to the principle of equal opportunity for both prisoners and staff. On the negative side, however, it seems to be inevitable, at least in the short term, that the numbers of women prisoners in most nations in the region will continue to increase at a faster rate than the number of male prisoners.