'Wring out' at Fairlea Women's Prison

Wednesday, March 27, 1996 - 11:00

By Kim Linden

MELBOURNE — The first "Wring out" of Fairlea Women's Prison was held in 1988. This describes the encircling of the prison and putting the squeeze on the Department of Corrections. The aim is to get people to come to the prison and think about and be heard by the women on the inside.

During 1993, the Save Fairlea Women's Prison Coalition was formed to fight plans to close Fairlea and transfer all women and children to Jika Jika, the maximum security sensory deprivation prison located within the Pentridge men's prison. The campaign, which included a "wring out" of Fairlea, was successful.

The Women and Imprisonment Group is now planning another "wring out" of Fairlea on May 19 to highlight the continued threat of its closure. For more information phone Karen Taylor on (03) 9417 6984/9754 5181 or Catherine Gow on 9376 6366/9489 0149.

From GLW issue 225