Children of women in prison may lose contact time
Changes in rules for women's prisons likely to affect prisoners' children
The government has come under fire for a reorganisation of women’s prisons that is likely to result in the children of prisoners having less contact with their mothers. While women’s prisons were previously classified as open, semi-open or closed, the government has turned the two semi-open women’s prisons – Morton Hall in Lincolnshire and Drake Hall in Staffordshire – into closed prisons. This leaves only two open prisons for women in England and Wales, along with twelve closed ones. The prison service now faces the anomaly of women classified as semi-open prisoners being detained in closed prisons, and apparently subject to rules for closed prisoners. Women in Prison, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which works to support women offenders and ex-offenders, described the decision as ‘the quiet abolition of semi-open prisons for women’. There are particular fears about the effect on prisoners’ children. Semi-open prisoners are allowed to apply to spend time with their children outside of the prison.
Some suggest that the loss of parental contact involves punishing children for their mothers’ crimes.
Rachel Brett of the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva said ‘If children are precluded from maintaining good contact with their mother because of government policy, then it is also an issue of concern in relation to the rights of the child’.
She told the Friend that family contact was often important in reducing re-offending. If this move restricts mothers’ contact with their children, she explained ‘this reduces the likelihood of successful reintegration’.
Around two-thirds of women prisoners are mothers. According to Women in Prison, it is estimated that around 17,700 children in the UK are separated from their mothers each year due to imprisonment.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice told the Friend that ‘The aim of the re-designation was to make the most effective use of the women’s prison estate. The changes allowed greater flexibility in whom we send to Drake Hall and Morton Hall and benefited the women by reducing on average their distance from home and families.’
However, there are fears that the decision was made for reasons of temporary convenience. European prison rules state that ‘the security measures applied to individual prisoners shall be the minimum necessary to achieve their secure custody’.
United Nations (UN) agreements also emphasise the importance of appropriate categorization for prisoners. Rachel Brett said that, ‘the issue of ‘over-classification’ of women prisoners - that is having them in higher security classification and therefore more confined prisons - was one of the impulses for the development of new UN Rules’.
Campaigners point out another way in which the move could impair rehabilitation. Previously, women prisoners may have progressed through the prison system from closed to semi-open to open. But going straight from closed to open could be a much bigger hurdle to jump.
The situation is complicated by the fact that one of the re-categorised prisons, Morton Hall, is to be turned into a detention centre for migrants later in the year.
Due to the low profile of poor prison conditions as a media issue, the issue has attracted very little publicity. Women in Prison appear angry at how suddenly and quietly the decision was taken. They said it was done ‘without consultation or notification and without any apparent consideration of the impact that this will have on women’.
They added that the move undermines the government’s progress in appreciating the importance of family connections for women in the criminal justice system.
Labour MP Mike Wood has called on the government to review its decision. He has tabled an Early Day Motion (a sort of parliamentary petition), EDM 956, which has been signed by MPs from various parties. Campaigners are hoping supporters will write to their MPs, urging them to sign the Motion.
Women in Prison statistics
- 66% are mothers.
- More than half have experienced domestic violence.
- One in three has suffered sexual abuse.
- 22% are foreign nationals (2007 figure).
- The majority are held for non-violent offences.
Sources: Prison Reform Trust and Howard League for Penal Reform
