Soroptimist International UN Representatives in Vienna attended the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at the end of April. As part of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Status of Women, SI co-hosted a side event on one of the focus topics of this year’s commission, women in prison. As part of this focus, the committee hosted an event entitled: "Violence against Migrant Women and (their) Children in Prison".
The initiative for this side event title was put forward by the Soroptimist International UN representatives earlier in 2012 and was subsequently picked up by the Vienna Committee on the Status of Women. This side event was scheduled as the last one at the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. After four months of preparation and innumerable phone calls, visits and meetings, a very successful session took place in the largest meeting room at the UN Vienna with an extremely high attendance rate.
In agreement with findings expressed in other discussions on this topic, the side event found that since women are a minority in prison, the conditions within prisons do not meet their needs. This is especially true for migrant women – particularly mothers. Migrant women often find that life in prison means isolation from their children and families. Even sending letters can be a problem. For those mothers who are granted custody of their children whilst in prison, facilities in most parts of the world are poor and do not support the mother, or meet the developmental needs of the child. Unfortunately, there is a lack reliable data about children with incarcerated parents, the so called “forgotten children”. However, in the EU it is thought that 800,000 children are separated from one parent because of a detention sentence; 1000 children live in prison.
Migrant women are deported immediately after finishing their sentence. Often, there are no reintegration programmes available which makes life post release very difficult. The risk of re-offending is high. Women often lose their homes whilst in prison, unable to keep up rent or mortgage repayments. Re-establishing themselves under such circumstances is challenging.
The session concluded by identifying a number of urgent areas for attention:
-) More open "external" mother units are needed to support women and their children;
-) Improved visiting hours should be introduced to allow mothers to see their children regularly;
-) Nurseries should be available in prisons to enable the mothers of babies to care for them during their sentence.
-) More female prison guards are needed. Globally, very few prison wardens are women. Very often, the right to be searched by a female warden, or the right not to undress in front of men, cannot be respected.
For children, providing the facilities needed to support their development should be a priority. The wellbeing of the child should be a mandatory consideration with adequate facilities to support early years education, cognitive development and nutrition. Another target should be the active support and facilitation of contact with other family members. Trained and qualified staff for the care of children and support of new mothers is highly recommended. Kindergardens close to prisons ought to be established in instances where mother-child units within prison are not possible or not appropriate. Non-violent female offenders should be allowed to participate actively and regularly in the care of their children.
Education in prison is essential. Female prisoners make use of education within prison more often than their male counterparts. They get better marks and grades than men in detention. The side event highlighted the fact that many female offenders are poorly educated, and stopped attending school at a very young age. The attainment of a minimum level of school education, especially in literacy, is therefore essential. In this way, prison provides an opportunity to acquire essential life skills.
The session closed by drawing attention to the Bangkok Rules (treatment of women in prison) and the Kiev Declaration (women’s health in prison). These important rules are not known enough and awareness should be raised throughout criminal justice systems around the world.
Special thanks to the Soroptimist International for the initiative were expressed. Thanks were also given to the guest speakers: Katharina Beclin, University of Vienna; Rachel Brett, Quaker UN Office Geneva; Sieglinde Koenig, Psychologist for the Penitentiary for Female Offenders, Schwarzau; Roberta Zelenka, Language Trainer for the Penitentiary for Female Offenders, Schwarzau.
To read the earlier reports from the SI UN Vienna team visit the below links:
Trafficking and Tourism – Breaking the Link
UN Crime Commission – The Forgotten Children
Help Us and Ask Us Questions – SI Statement to the UN Commission