A Female Lifer Inside

Whether through the use of illicit glass women have come across, or sharpening a plastic meal knife, the situation is compounded by the Prison Officer’s lack of ability to act. Even in cases where a prisoner reports to a PO, “Miss, I’ve got some glass in my cell, and I’m gonna cut up later”, they are allowed to search that cell, but if nothing is found they cannot place that girl in solitary conditions for protective measures as it infringes that individuals human rights. All too often the prisoner is allowed to return to their cell and wherever the object is “secreted on herself”, allows for “cutting up” in their own time which can lead to a deadly conclusion.

The “negativity” which pervades prison, as Michelle often points out, is as liable to come from the officers themselves as well as the other prisoners. She tells me of an incident she witnesses first hand. A lifer, Kate, is dependent upon an asthma inhaler to aid her breathing. A member of staff refuses to give it to Kate until the next day and threatens her with a warning if she keeps up her protests. “That night she had an asthma attack and dies”. Another of the one hundred and twenty-seven women that have died in prison since 1996.

System that cannot cope

Sitting in early 2007, evidence presented to a Home Affairs Select Committee stated, “The prison estate has always been poorly equipped to deal with women lifers.” It has been found there are higher levels of drug use in the female system than the male. A 2001 survey found two-thirds of female prisoners were found to have a drug problem. Further evidence presented to the Committee found up to 80% of women in prison have some form of diagnosable mental health problem. Almost half reported to have experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse at some point in their life. A quarter spent time in local authority care as a child, and 40% left school before the age of 16. Against this background, the Committee quoting evidence from an earlier Howard League report, found “women lifers usually served their sentences further away from home and due to poor resources, spent an average of two years longer than their male counterparts despite having a far lower reconviction rate.” Allied to this, comments from Michelle and Susan, in addition to other female lifers points to a “penal system geared to men, not women.”

Where “there are several courses on offer in the male prisons that are not available in the female”. The lack of worthwhile jobs available in prison, where “mind-numbing” ones take precedent over teaching new skills they can use on release. And when they are released back into the community on a ‘life licence’, the Griffins Society that works with female offenders highlights the situation that many “lifers will be released into the community with very little support.” The licence lasting in effect for the remainder of their life, places conditions on that individual such as who they socialise with and where they may live and work.

A female Lifer must manage in a system which is not fundamentally geared to dealing with them, in an environment where the majority of those around them suffer from the worst ills which society can throw up. Of course an individual that commits a crime must pay the price for that crime. But does the current penal system do so in a humane and effective way? Especially if you are one of the many where the issue of guilt is in doubt.