International Centre For Prison Studies International profile of women’s prisons April 2008 International Centre for Prison Studies 1 CONTENTS Page EXCUTIVE SUMMARY 3 COUNTRY PROFILES Australia 9 Canada 21 Denmark 32 Germany 40 New Zealand 47 Spain 52 Sweden 57 United States 62 - Arizona 64 - Washington State 69 - New York State 72 ANNEXES ANNEX A – overview of prisons in Australia 78 ANNEX B - overview of prisons in Canada 84 ANNEX C - overview of prisons in Denmark 92 ANNEX D - overview of prisons in Germany 96 ANNEX E - overview of prisons in New Zealand 99 ANNEX F - overview of prisons in Spain 103 ANNEX G - overview of prisons in Sweden 106 ANNEX H - overview of prisons in the United States 109 ANNEX J - Overview of other countries studied in Phase One - Brazil 112 - Finland 115 - France 118 - Greece 120 - Italy 123 - Japan 126 - Netherlands 127 - Norway 130 - Russia 132 - Switzerland 135 - Turkey 137 ANNEX K – Bibliography 139 2 International profile of women’s prisons Phase One and Phase Two Executive summary: some key points arising from the material This work was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health and was carried out in two phases. Phase One looked at 18 countries and collected data on women’s prison populations in relation to the general prison population, and the arrangements made to house women prisoners. Sources were mainly governmental statistics and descriptive reports on the design and appearance of women’s prisons where available. Phase Two examined eight countries in more detail and looked to establish how far these countries were providing a prison service based on the needs of women, taking into account that in most countries women make up a small minority of the prison population. Sources in Phase Two were governmental policy documents, other external evaluations and commentaries. Women prisoners For an overview of all countries studied please see table on pages 7 and 8.This table also gives an overview of women in prison in England and Wales for the purpose of comparison. Female /Male population The available data shows significant variations in the proportion of women to men imprisoned in different jurisdictions, from 3.7 per cent (France) to 9.1 per cent (United States). This suggests that countries have different attitudes and policies about the use of imprisonment for women as compared with men. The policies in some countries lead to a more sparing use of imprisonment of women than those in others. One consequence of these policies is that in some countries women are being held in overcrowded conditions whilst in others the issue of overcrowding does not arise or is unlawful (Denmark). Trend in the female prison population The changes over time in the imprisonment of women compared with that of men is very different across the countries surveyed. Some have had a much more rapid increase in the women’s prison population (United States, Australia) compared with other countries where the numbers have remained fairly stable (Finland, France) which could be seen as indicating a different approach to imprisoning women. Nature of the women’s population The average age is around or above 30. There are also similarities in the crimes for which women have been imprisoned. Offences connected with illicit drugs are a major cause of women’s imprisonment. Countries where the numbers imprisoned are very low such as Finland have a higher number of prisoners convicted of very serious crimes of violence. 3 Needs of women in prison There are similarities in the type of women imprisoned in each country. The information collated for this review suggests that in all countries they are a very disadvantaged group even amongst the disadvantaged and many come from backgrounds of abuse and violence, and have problems of addiction. A higher proportion of physical and mental health problems is noted amongst women prisoners. Policies for dealing with women prisoners Nearness to home Countries have adopted different approaches to the question of how to provide for a group that is a small minority in a system designed for the majority male population. Some countries have regarded women as men in all but gender and have reproduced the system used for men with only slight adaptations for women (New Zealand, USA) although with different consequences in terms of distance from home. Others have a hybrid system, with some women’s prisons as well as small units attached to men’s prisons so that the women can be nearer their home area (Spain). The system in Spain seems to lead to the outcome often predicted with small dispersed women units, that women get fewer resources and are an afterthought when the policy for the wider prison is being decided. Size of units The size of the units differs widely across the countries studied in Phase Two. The average size of unit in Western European countries has space for 60 women prisoners. The US States studied has the largest unit, with capacity for 2,302 prisoners, closely followed by Russia with space for 2,000 women. Security Most of the countries use very traditional security measures on the same basis as in men’s prisons and it is clear that in most of the countries studied many of the imprisoned women are being held in security greater than needed. Anti-discrimination studies in Australia assert that women are discriminated against by being held in prisons with a security level higher than justified. Moving to a women-centred approach involves designing new tools for classification. Routine strip-searching as a security measure is also heavily criticised in these reports. Mothers and children The perennial dilemma of how to deal with women prisoners’ young children is resolved in different ways. Those countries that allow children to stay with their mothers (all the countries surveyed in Phase Two but only in one of the three US States) have very different ages at which it is felt desirable to take the child away (six years in one state in Germany, three in Spain, four in one prison in Western Australia, 12 months in Sweden). There are also different ideas about how the imprisoned mother should be treated, varying from the arrangement that allows the child and the mother to stay together all day, to the system where the child goes to an outside nursery so that the mother can work (Germany). The most child-centred system we found is that in the prison in Frondenberg, Germany where 16 mothers live with their children up to the age of 6 in self-contained flats with balconies and the staff do not wear prison uniforms. 4 Visiting arrangements Visiting arrangements reflect the cultural differences found in prisons all around the world about attitudes to family life. In some countries private family visits (including conjugal visits) are accepted as normal and a right that cannot be taken away. Women in this respect are treated in the same way as men. In other respects some countries make special arrangements for visits for imprisoned women who have children outside the prison. These can be whole day family visits at weekends. In New South Wales Sundays are family visiting days and the family stays all day though with a break for lunch. At Hinseberg in Sweden there is a special flat where children can stay overnight with their mothers. The provision of health care Health care features in all the countries as a priority issue for women prisoners. The health needs of most women prisoners are significant and in the reforming countries a change in the provision of health care is seen as a basic necessity for a woman-centred approach. The New South Wales system of a separate health trust devoted to the justice system but part of the National Public Health Service and operating a public health preventive approach is an interesting model. An issue in most of the countries is what to do with a small group of highly disturbed and presumably very disruptive women. Canada is approaching this by moving back from the dispersed model and having two national units. In Australia special health-based units are being built for this group – one in New South Wales which will hold men and women and one in Victoria which will provide specialist care to women prisoners only. Design of women’s prisons The countries studied in Phase Two of the review demonstrated a wide range of approaches to prison design; in New Zealand the ‘standard’ prison segregation unit design is used even for its at-risk unit for suicidal women and in Canada there are a range of shared houses, in Germany one prison provides flats with balconies whilst Halle prison has a pay-laundry, a piano room and a large garden. In Western Australia at Boronia prison there are ‘pleasant gardens and well maintained houses that more closely resembled a well-kept suburban landscape than institutional setting’. Financial costs of women’s prisons Information about costs is hard to find and, where available, difficult to interpret. It is not unreasonable to assume that small special units for women are more expensive in immediate revenue terms but that this could be mitigated against potential longer term benefits in reducing re-offending. Regimes Based on the countries surveyed, those that have moved to reform have moved to de- institutionalise and restore responsibility to the women. The ‘self-care’ approach where women live in small groups, budget, shop, cook, clean and live together as a small community is the outcome of wholesale reforms in Canada and Australia. In Denmark it has been part of the system for many years and one of the principles of the prison service for all prisoners Wholesale reform of the women’s prison system 5 Reforming women’s imprisonment to develop a model that is women focused and takes into account the different needs and different situation of women has been a feature in some countries.