Crime Girls in jail lured into drugtaking

Teenage girls who are held in prison alongside women inmates face bullying,
sexual abuse and are liable to be lured into drugtaking, according to a
report published today. The Government could be in breach of United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child unless it moved to end the practice
of jailing 15 to 17yearold females, warned penal reformers the Howard
League. Most girls under the age of 18 who were locked up were already the
victims of sexual, physical or emotional abuse and should be treated as
"damaged" children in need of help rather than hardened criminals, it said.
Each year more than 300 girls under 18 are jailed. The league's report
which is based on interviews with 61 girls in prison blamed a media
"obsession" with "girl gangs" in the wake of the attack on actress
Elizabeth Hurley for a sharp rise in the numbers being locked up.

Responding, the Government said that action to ensure young girls in prison
were kept in suitable conditions was already under way. Prisons and
probation minister Joyce Quin said she understood the concern expressed by
the report's authors and promised the Government would study their
recommendations carefully.