By Sam Lazzaro
SYDNEY — A recent investigation by the NSW Ombudsman into conditions at Mulawa Women's Prison revealed a high level of mismanagement and a lack of accountability. Mulawa has a long history of appalling conditions of confinement, overcrowding and lack of contact with families. Figures suggest that the levels of self-mutilation, suicide and general distress at Mulawa prison are increasing. The only other women's prison in NSW, Norma Parker, has had no known incidents of self-harm this year.
In April, NSW MLC Ann Symonds raised the self-harm issue in parliament citing a prison officer's report that 56 incidents involving 46 different women had occurred in March alone. The total number of such incidents over 12 months to December 1992 was 53.
Research into the conditions in the prison system in NSW shows that violence is on the increase; this year's figures on assaults to both officers and inmates are up by 38% compared to 1993.
The 1992 figures show that women comprise 17.4% of all prisoners in NSW, compared to 6.7% in Queensland and 11.1% in South Australia. Despite the Department of Corrective Service's 1994 Women's Action Plan recommendation that "female prison populations should only include women who have provided the court with virtually no other option but to incarcerate them", overcrowding in women's prisons is worsening; approximately 50% of women in jail are mothers and nearly half of these single mothers.
There have been three deaths in the last few months at Mulawa, two of which were put down to "ill health". The third woman tried to hang herself but was cut down and transferred unconscious to Westmead hospital.
Three male prison officers have been removed from Mulawa for professional misconduct since January this year.
The Waller Report into self-harm issued last October revealed that, although women constitute only 4-5% of the prison population, in 1992 they represented 16% of the state's self-harm victims. It also found that 41% of Mulawa inmates were using methadone, leading to a "suspicion that prisoners were being controlled by the means of the drug".
Waller recommended the urgent establishment of a crisis unit. This recommendation has yet to be acted on.
Justice Action (formerly CEFTAA) has launched a petition campaign to highlight the worsening situation and force an investigation into conditions at Mulawa Prison. The petition calls for: an independent inquiry into abuses of authority in NSW jails for women; the immediate implementation of measures to stop the increasing incidence of self mutilation, suicide attempts and death at Mulawa; and that these measures should focus on the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Green Left Weekly spoke to Justice Action member and long-term prisoner rights campaigner, Blanche Hampton, about the issues.
It was recently reported that the NSW Ombudsman intends to investigate conditions at Mulawa Women's Prison following claims that sex for drugs rackets and other abuses are widespread. What impact do you think another inquiry will have on conditions there?
Inquiries into women's prisons have a poor history of results. For example, the Nagel Report almost 20 years ago made a lot of recommendations, yet the situation hasn't improved. A lot of these women shouldn't even be in jail. They are not violent people.
Inquiries usually mean that the women and officers know that someone is watching and, for a short time, the misery is reduced. The benefits in the longer term are that inquiries collect information that we need in order to take action. In the past, however, there has been no action. We need to also apply pressure through our political process.
Why does self-mutilation, sexual abuse and deaths in custody happen at Mulawa?
The claim that women prisoners engage in self-harm in order to get attention is a myth; the type of attention they do get isn't particularly good. If you're lucky you will get sent back to your room or you'll be stripped and stuck in a bare cell so you can't hurt yourself again. Apart from that, self-harm goes on your record as a breach of prison rules and the response to this can vary from nothing to one that is very punitive.
Part of the reason why the women self-mutilate is that things can get unbearable. Values on the outside like loyalty, family caring and so on become perverted and subverted inside. This makes women vulnerable to pressures to have sex or run drugs.
What are the solutions to these problems?
The solutions don't lie in more capital works projects. The prison authorities need to give women unlimited phone card use, something which some of the male jails have already done. This would allow the women to maintain contact with their families and children. The less contact the prisoners have, the harder it is to integrate them back into the community.
Apart from phone calls, the next most important thing in jail is drugs. Unlimited phone access would cut through that, remove the motive for standover tactics and extortion.
The other change, which wouldn't cost anything, is to set up an inmate grievance committee. The women need to feel confident about speaking up — they have to feel as though they are being heard. There is no such mechanism at present. Such committees have been suggested by previous inquiries but the department finds their existence very threatening. Mulawa also needs a change of management. Many of the older officers harass women — no-one seems to catch them or they manage to talk their way out of it — but when younger officers see that the long-term staff have impunity, they get the message that abuse of prisoners is OK.
Where does the system of graduated release fit into the picture?
Since the late 1960s, Mulawa has been the main women's prison in NSW. Norma Parker has been the only low security alternative. One of the things that makes the women's imprisonment different to that of men is the lack of a graduated release. Graduated release is supposed to provide the best security for both inmates and the community; it reintroduces people back into the community in a controlled manner.
While the number of women in jails in the past 18 months has plateaued, even dropped slightly, before that it had been climbing at a high rate. Some money has been spent on adding buildings and a new medium security section, however even these have very quickly degenerated, and the women are not treated any better.
The other big problem is that the low security alternative, Norma Parker, won't take people on methadone. This is despite the Waller Report's findings in 1992 that 41% of the female prison population was on methadone. None of these women will be able to go to a minimum security institution, no matter how short their sentence. This is despite the emphasis the Women's Action Plan placed on transitional sentencing.
Can you tell us about the Mulawa campaign?
Its main aim is to raise awareness about abuses of authority within the prisons. In the petition we point out that one of the problems with the inquiry is that it relies heavily on very specific incidences involving individuals who have to be prepared to go on record. But this creates real problems for inmates, in particular the effect on their credibility and the possibility of retaliation, not just against them, but also their family.
I have been told that the last time there was an inquiry, the Lieutenant went around to the prison wings and told the prisoners that if any one of them spoke up, they would lose all amenities for 28 days.
Do you see any longer-term solutions to the problems?
We now have close to 7000 people in prison. That's a huge number when you consider the number of family members and friends it also affects.
The upcoming NSW elections are an opportunity to raise questions around law and order including, for example, the fact that research from both Australia and overseas indicates that the general population is far less punitive in their attitudes than either Labor or Liberal politicians.
We really need to rethink what we want out of the prison system, what we are producing in it and what the alternatives are.
For more information about the campaign or a petition contact Kath Kenny at Justice Action on 02 281 5100.