Women, a minority among the prison population, suffer a lot of discrimination compared to men, according to a report.
To be a woman in prison is to experience everyday discrimination – and this, in general indifference, since the plight of prisoners seldom arouses a national outpouring of compassion. And yet it is a report overwhelming that made this Thursday the Controller of places of deprivation of liberty (CGLPL), Adeline Hazan, after her visit to French prisons.
3% of prisoners in France
In these places, women are a large minority – they represent only 3.2% of the total detainees in France, 5 to 6% of the population in detention centers, 6% of minors in closed educational centers and 38, 21% of patients admitted to mental health facilities, the report said.
Minority, therefore, in the image of their rights. “It would be fair to think that this small number of women deprived of their liberty would facilitate care and allow strict respect for fundamental rights. It is clear that in reality this is not the case and that women do not enjoy the same rights as men deprived of their liberty, ”condemns Adeline Hazan, who describes a prison system unsuited to this population.
Breaking family ties
First observation: women find themselves far more often from their relatives, due to an unequal geographical distribution of detention centers. Of the 188 prisons in France, only 56 accommodate women, mostly located in the north of France. Two prisons are exclusively female (Rennes and Fleury-Mérogis).
This unbalanced territorial network prevents the maintenance of the family link, a fundamental right of the prisoner – and one of the conditions favoring his rehabilitation. “This situation also feeds the overcrowding of women’s neighborhoods,” further denounces Adeline Hazan. Finally, due to a lack of places, minors and majors are often found mixed together, while the law requires them to be housed in separate units.
Access to healthcare hampered
The Controller is also alarmed by the health inequalities observed in prisons. Thus, while the infrastructure is primarily designed for men, access to specifically female care – especially gynecological – poses a problem.
This access “is extremely variable from one establishment to another,” points out the report. While “in an establishment in the south of France that can accommodate around forty women, a gynecologist is present every day, in an establishment in the west of France accommodating the same number of women, the gynecologist is only present. once a month “.
Inmates are not always offered specific hygiene products. Finally, because of the proximity to men, access to hygiene areas is often restricted to them.
Men first
In addition, prisoners are regularly deprived of the activities offered in prison, due to the prohibition on mixing men and women. The latter must not cross paths under any pretext, “even briefly, during a movement to get from one place to another”, specifies the report.
However, as men are in the majority, “this ban singularly constrains women’s access to common facilities: health unit, socio-cultural area, sports ground, library, etc. Their movements must indeed be inserted between those, more frequent, of the detained men ”.
Allow mixed movements
The Controller thus calls for authorizing mixed movements in penitentiary establishments. “This modification would make it possible to promote equal access for detainees to common areas of detention, whether for education, work or treatment.” A change in the regulations would lead to the establishment of “supervised supervision”, in order to guarantee “the physical integrity of the detained persons (men and women detained) during these movements”.
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