Hi everyone! As we all know, we just got finished writing our issue briefs (woo!). My issue brief was about mandatory minimums and three-strike laws and their impact on mass incarceration in America. Because of this, I decided to write this week’s civic issue blog on women in prison. According to the ACLU, women and girls caught in the criminal justice system has skyrocketed. There are more than 200,000 women in prison and more than 1 million on probation and parole. It’s not that women are particularly being target more than men, it is that women are sometimes more vulnerable to danger and poor health in prisons.
To begin with, women have limited access to menstrual hygiene products. Not only can this lead to unsanitary practices, it can put women in danger. Correctional officers can also threaten to take away their access to these products or bribe women by providing more products. Not only are women at risk of issues due to limited access to hygiene products, pregnant women in prisons also experience unhealthy conditions while serving time. Pregnant women in prison and their babies can suffer from undernutrition, lack of healthcare, and unsafe conditions of giving birth in prison. For example, some women who give birth while in prison are shackled. This is unfair to women who are going through extreme pain and distress while giving birth as they are already experiencing discomfort and the shackles only add to it. Also, women in prison are more likely to experience sexual abuse. 86% of women in jail have experienced assault and make up the majority of victims of staff-on-inmate sexual abuse.
Although women in prison experience many hardships, the First Step Act has recently been enacted and is beginning the road to improving conditions for women in prison. This legislation ends the two hardships I have listened above and creates a foundation for creating a more fair and safe environment for women in prison. Because of the nature of shackling women during labor, the act abolishes this rule. Shackling isn’t meant to keep anyone safe, it is just meant to anger the prisoner in labor. Also, the limited access to menstrual hygiene products in prisons, although created to save money, punishes women for having this natural bodily function. Now, under the First Step Act, this limitation is no longer a problem. The largest, most inconvenient problem with this act is it only covers federal prisons, where most women do not reside.
Many more steps are needed to create a safer environment for women. Although these women are prisoners and criminals, they should not be put in danger or health risks. State and local prisons, where most women do reside, should follow in the footsteps of the First Step Act and create easy access to feminine hygiene products as well as access to healthcare and better conditions for pregnant women. Women in prison are being punished for experiencing natural bodily functions like periods and pregnancy; being a prisoner is punishment enough, being a women should not make it harder.
https://www.aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights/women-prison/first-step-act-small-step-incarcerated-women
Hi Bella! Interesting topic for both this post and the issue brief. I think it is pressing to discuss the criminal justice system as well as how women are affected within the walls. As you mentioned, women have little access to feminine hygiene products while incarcerated. This saddens me, as hygiene should not be a way the criminal justice system decides to punish. Maybe it is simply a lack of resources, but it could also be looked at as insignificant to supply women in prison with feminine hygiene products.
I was recently watching an episode of Grey’s Anatomy that portrayed a pregnant sixteen-year-old and within the episode she gave birth. She was shackled, as you mentioned, and I could not help but feel sorry for her. Although it is important to incarcerate those who disobey the law, the system needs to be more humane when it comes to discipline.
On the topic of gender and incarceration, there was an article I found on a transgender inmate who was moved to a different prison, except they were moved to an all-male prison when they were a transgender woman. How do you think this should be handled? Well, advocates for the inmate threatened a lawsuit if something was not done. The transgender woman, Zayre-Brown, had undergone multiple surgeries prior to being arrested to become a woman. Therefore, she was considered to be a woman when she entered the prison. Yet, it was still a question whether or not to keep her in an all male or all female facility. The solution so far was to put her in a single cell, as opposed to an open dormitory. She made a statement reiterating that she does not want special treatment, she just wants what is accommodating to her gender.
I was wondering if you touched on trans women in your issue brief? If so, what did you touch on? Good job on your posts this year! Until next time.
https://www.wral.com/state-moves-transgender-inmate-but-not-to-womens-prison/18298786/
Wow I really meant to say “Hi Kerry!” But I saw Bella’s name from my old document. I’m sorry, Kerry!
I agree with your general argument about women in prison. Criminals with similar offenses should be treated similarly whether male or female, and being a certain gender should not worsen the conditions for a person in this position. Although, I do think some argue criminals give up their rights the moment they commit their crime, and they put themselves in this position and what they are subjected to should not matter. Overall, there are many hypocrisies in the criminal justice and prison systems, and this is one of them.
It is interesting how the number of women in prisons has skyrocketed, and this does raise many concerns like you mentioned. These criminals cannot be removed from prison, but extra steps need to be taken to ensure that they have equal “rights” in prison as men do because of hygiene issues and their extra vulnerability to sexual assault. Another thing to mention in regards to this is how many female criminals have abusive pasts and have had unhealthy relationships with other people, specifically men. Being stuck in prison surrounded by violent or abusive men will not only put them in jeopardy of being physically hurt, but it will also severely take a toll on their psychological health that will continue to detrimentally affect them when they get out of jail (more on this here: https://www.prisonfellowship.org/resources/training-resources/in-prison/prison-culture/needs-of-female-prisoners/). As for hygiene, women who are pregnant and in jail, it is my opinion that they should be able to give birth in a sanitary and safe of the environment for both the sake of the female that has to go through the extremely painful and distressing experience and for the baby being born.
This whole issue is controversial, and there is definitely not one solution that everyone will agree on. I think it is important that those who do view this as a serious problem and want incarcerated women to be treated fairly to promote programs that send volunteers to help them and urge policymakers to make it a priority to reevaluate prisons, especially since more and more women are being jailed (which is definitely a problem in itself).
– Josie Golder
Hi Ker Ker! As you know, I did my issue brief on this topic, and it’s super interesting. I like how you brought attention to the lack of feminine hygiene products in women’s prison. It’s honestly horrible to think that women have to jump through hoops to simply get menstrual products such as tampons and pads. However, some states are making it a law that free tampons and pads must be provided to women, such as in Virginia. While doing research on my issue brief, I was also appalled to come across an article where a lawmaker (male) said that giving women free pads and tampons for incarcerated women would make prisons like a Country Club. In addition, sometimes women will have to perform sexual favors on men simply in exchange for these menstrual products. Many women in prison have also stated that getting their period while behind bars is a degrading, humiliating process. Many times, women will have stained their jumpsuits with blood and have to continue wearing that jumpsuit. I also read about humiliating stories where a woman was stripped while having blood rush down her leg and another where a woman was forced to show her pads to a male officers for proof that she needed more products.
As you noted, correction officers do hold a lot of power over women in prison, and thus, they can withhold these sanitary products from women. Furthermore, this abuse of power has also led to the significant amount of sexual abuse in prisons. Many times, the male prison guards will also be able to watch women change and shower, which is completely disgusting.
Although I did not do much research on shackling, it’s terrible to think this still exists. It truly sounds like cruel and unusual punishment almost. However, it’s good to know there has been an act created to hopefully help this issue. However, a lot of activity goes undetected in prison, so I wonder how useful this act has really been.
Great post Kerry!
Link:
https://wtkr.com/2018/02/27/law-will-provide-free-tampons-to-female-prisoners-in-virginia/
The examples you brought up about how women need to suffer in order to simply receive the menstrual products every female needs makes me so angry! Just because a woman is in prison does not mean she should be subjected to violence, assault, and humiliation. The lack of hygiene can degrade anyone. Outsiders need to put themselves in the shoes of these women and empathize with them… not for the crime they committed but for the horrors that result from something they cannot control.
The prison system in the United States is already shocking. However, I think the majority of the problems that there are with women in prison come from a lack of diversity among the staff and lawmakers. No woman in their right mind would shackle a pregnant woman. First of all, where would they even go? Also, the fact that labor is so excruciating means that you wouldn’t really need to do anything other than have doctors and guards present. This is such an important issue, but I feel like when you think abut it it is an issue in most areas. No matter what the profession, lack of diversity allows for these kinds of policy mistakes. Hiring women is not a case of hiring someone less capable for the job, it is a case of hiring people with different skill sets from different backgrounds who are fully capable of doing the job.
This civic issue blog was very interesting and I was very drawn to it because in one of my Criminology classes we just started learning about feminist theory and how women are viewed in a world of crime. It as very terrifying to learn that when women are in prison and pregnant they aren’t treated better. Women who are giving birth have to be handcuffed to the bed and have to have their ankles shackled. I don’t know about anyone else but if I were giving birth, escaping would be the last thing on my mind. It was also very interesting to learn that in other countries such as Sweden and such, the mothers are allowed to stay with their child in a supervised place for up to about 4 years of age.
As I was researching more about women who are incarcerated I saw this article that had some frequently asked questions and one of them was why are women more likely to be incarcerated?
It didn’t go into much detail but it had a lot to do with drugs, women who do drugs and commit a property crime are more likely to be targeted than men who do the same. According to statistics, 28% of women go to prison because of this problem, whereas 19% of men go for the same reason.
Overall we do see the difference between how men and women are treated and we do see how women don’t get the right care they need such as sanitary products when they are on their menstrual cycle. Most prisons expect women to use toilet paper or do the option of free bleed.
Prisons should comply more to the women who need these products.
https://www.prisonfellowship.org/resources/training-resources/in-prison/incarcerated-womens-ministry/frequently-asked-questions-incarcerated-women/