CALL TO REVIEW FEMALE PRISON FACILITIES

FEMALE prisoners in this country are a damaged and largely
disadvantaged group.

The manner in which they are treated and the facilities available to
them while in jail urgently need to be reviewed, according to a
leading spokesperson for legal reform in Ireland.

Ireland has the smallest percentage of women in prison than any other
county in Europe and only 2% of the overall prisoners in Ireland are
women, said Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, Dr Ian O'Donnell.

"With such a small percentage, it should be easier to study trends of
female offenders and to adopt a programme specific to their needs,
once inside the prison."

Dr O'Donnell commented on the fact that the nature of crimes committed
by female offenders related more to offences against property, such as
theft rather than violent offences against the person.

Garda Statistics for 1997 reveal that the ratio of men to women for
violent offences committed against the person was 60 to 1.

"A huge percentage of women in our prisons are there because they are
caught into a pattern of offending often due to a drug addiction.

Many show high levels of self abuse with evidence of admission to a
Psychiatric Hospital on entering Prison," he added.

"The majority are extremely vulnerable women who come from
disadvantaged backgrounds and who need special help."

In a study carried out by doctors in 1996 at the Womens Prison in
Mountjoy, of the 100 committals examined 60% were serious heroin
abusers one third of the committals had already tried suicide, while
one quarter had previously been admitted to a Psychiatric Hospital.

"Women Prisoners tend to have very different needs to men," adds
doctor at Mountjoy Womens Prison, GP Patricia Carmody.

"The majority of them are mothers, are more vulnerable and show much
higher levels of psychiatric morbidity than male prisoners."

Dr Carmody added that while the needs of female prisoners in Ireland
had to be seriously addressed, she was optimistic that the building of
the new prison for women at Mountjoy would lead to new changes in the
system.

"In particular, there needs to be segregation of female prisoners on
remand from prisoners already sentenced, which does not exist at
present. A drug free unit should also be incorporated, to separate non
drug users from serious addicts within the prison," added Dr Carmody.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady