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Site: Voices Inside

Needs of Women in Custody

Written by Women Inside

[*These needs have also been incorporated into the Campaign Demands]

  • A bus to transport visitors from the train station to the gaol
  • Medication: Information is not enough. If a woman is on medication whilst in custody a prescription should be issued on release for a week to a fortnight to cover the time it takes to renew the prescription with a doctor on the outside.
  • Waiting two weeks to see a doctor is not good enough
  • The new medical provider is still giving out sleeping medication at five o'clock in the afternoon. They have been operational for three months and still cannot complete evening medication before the eight pm lockdown.
  • Housing: Again, information does not necessarily put a roof over a woman's head. More funds are needed and arrangements should be put in place before release. The first day/week is overwhelming.
  • Wages: A one dollar pay rise in fifteen years is not good enough when slave labour is already a part of prison life. We all know the rate of inflation year in, year out. There is only one-dollar difference between the high, medium and low wage rates. Only a pre-determined number of women are able to be paid at the higher rate, less than those that are eligible for the medium or low wage. By the current wage scheme it would not matter how good a worker one is, or if they are prepared to work extra days, they would not be eligible for the higher rate of pay if the places were already filled. The number of places has not increased although the population of the gaol has.
  • More phone boxes. There are only three and often only two of those are operational. Outside support is important as is maintaining relationships with family and children.
  • Education: It is difficult enough with a police record to get a job. Education is needed and important for women, not just for the working of the prison.
  • It only costs 23 cents for a local call. We are paying 40 cents. We get no concessions for STD calls and none of the cheaper rates available to the general public are available to us.
  • Overcrowding: We have been "temporarily" doubled up for two years. A3, a ten-bed orientation unit, has housed up to 26 women at once. Two portable units were erected to alleviate overcrowding and we are still doubled up, still overcrowded.
  • Management inconsistencies. What are the rules, and why do they only apply to some? Rules are subject to change depending on the day, the weather and who it is you're speaking to.
  • We still haven't seen a copy of the rules or the policy.
  • Maintenance: Nothing gets fixed and this can be potentially fatal. For example; a range hood that has been broken for 18 months has still not been fixed despite numerous requests. One person who thinks it's safe to turn the fan on to cook could be killed by the range hood falling.

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last updated 29 Feb 2000

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