NI Prison Service censured for treatment of women
The Northern Ireland Prison Service was heavily censured today in an official report on how treats women in custody.
Provision for women and girls did not meet their needs, said the report produced jointly by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owens and the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice, Kit Chivers.
They told the Northern Ireland Prison Service it must “urgently” seek the help of prison services in other jurisdictions which had developed policies meeting the specific needs of women in custody.
The inspection , commissioned by the new Criminal Justice Inspectorate, followed a previously critical report by the Prisons Inspectorate in 2002 into the conditions and treatment of women prisoners when they were held at the high security Maghaberry Prison in Co Antrim.
Female detainees have since been moved to Hydebank Wood, a young offenders centre in Belfast which houses 250 young, all male, offenders.
But the two inspectors said the relocation had “not tackled the underlying and fundamental issues” in relation to women and girls in prison.
The report criticised the Prison Service for taking no action to implement the recommendations of the previous report.
Instead, following the suicides of two inmates and a critical report from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the women and girls had been moved to Ash House at Hydebank.
The chief inspectors described this as “a poorly implemented decision” and recommended a separate dedicated prison for women be provided.
The inspection found facilities on a site shared with the male offenders lacked integral sanitation. Staff were insufficiently trained and prepared to receive the women.
Although women were allowed out of their cells, there was too little for them to do and they had lost open access to fresh air and grounds, said the report which was laid before Parliament today.
There are some 30 women prisoners housed at Hydebank with a wide age range and in custody for offences from fine default to murder.
The report highlighted that, in particular, staff at Hydebank lacked the support and knowledge to manage some extremely damaged young women at risk of suicide or self harm – an issue on which the Human Rights Commission report had focused.
:: The inspectors found two young women, one a juvenile, being held in “anti-suicide suits” in cold and unfurnished cells.
:: Documentation revealed an imperfect understanding of the motives and management of self-harming women.
:: Disciplinary measures were used to punish self-harming behaviour.
The inspectors said: “In general punishments, including for children, were very severe.
“We do not believe that this was because staff deliberately wished to treat their charges badly; rather it was because they genuinely did not know how else to manage these young women, and were above all extremely anxious, by any means available, to prevent another self-inflicted death.”
They added: “The Northern Ireland Prison Service urgently needs to seek help of prison services in other jurisdictions that have developed policies and practices to meet the specific needs of women, and to train and support a separate manager for the women’s unit at Ash House.
“But in the longer term, it needs to plan for a discrete and suitable separate location in which women can be held safely and purposefully.”
The Prison Service was said to have “responded positively” to the report, accepting “almost all” the recommendations.
The inspectors said work was planned to install integral sanitation in the cells at Ash House, and that the Prison Service had recognised that, even so, Ash House could not be a permanent solution to the problem of accommodating women.
As recommended by the inspectors, there is now a dedicated Governor with responsibility for women prisoners, reporting to the Governor of Hydebank, they said.
Robin Masefield, director general of the Prison Service said he must “accept the criticism of aspects of our past performance” but he was confident the regime was “moving in the right direction”.
While the service had accepted Ash House should be classed as temporary accommodation, in the short to medium term he was focusing on keeping the women there and improving the regime.
“In the long term we are open minded, but I am not promising there will be a purpose built women’s prison.
“The taxpayer would be asking ‘is that the best use of public money?”’ said Mr Masefield.
Kit Chivers said he was delighted at the outcome of the inspection. “The Prison Service has accepted all the main recommendations. They have taken it on the chin and faced up to their shortcomings.
“This is a good outcome for the women prisoners – a win, win situation."
