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About PRI| PRI office in the USA organises the round table on pregnant women in prisons |
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PRI hosted a Roundtable on “Pregnancy Behind Bars” in Washington DC on 29 July 2008. The Roundtable brought together medical staff, lawyers, advocates for prisoners and women who had themselves given birth in prison as well as international experts on the treatment of pregnant women and girls behind bars. The meeting looked at the problems, solutions and ways to achieve reform related to ante-natal care, labor and mother/baby bonding for women and girls who give birth in prison, jail or detention. The objective was to provide information, contacts and additional tools to NGOs and others who are currently working to improve conditions for these women and girls. The assembled group of experts was tasked to:
Both the introduction to the program and the presentations made by the experts made clear that the long term solution to the problems of pregnancy in prison lies in systemic change to a justice system that overuses incarceration, particularly for non-violent women whose crimes rise from untreated substance abuse, psycho-social problems resulting from their own victimization through physical and sexual abuse, and poverty. Most of the women and girls who are pregnant in prison do not need to be there. Indeed some concern was expressed that by seeking to improve conditions of confinement and the care provided to pregnant women, there would be an increase in the number of pregnant women being sent to prison to “protect” their fetuses. The personal stories provided by women who had themselves been pregnant in prison made clear how their human rights and basic dignity had been violated by the staff at the facilities where they were held. In particular, the practice of shackling women during labor and delivery caused deep and lasting trauma. Laurel Townhead, the co-author of the new report from the Quaker’s United Nations Office, “Women in prison: A commentary on the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners,” provided some encouraging international examples of alternative approaches that attempted to provide conditions that met international standards and norms. While recognizing the difficulties involved in achieving reform in a country that has 51 independent prison systems (one federal, and 50 separate state systems), the participants agreed that looking to human rights law and international standards provided a framework for the development of better standards of care that has not traditionally been used within the US. Jenni Gainsborough, the Director of PRI’s Washington Office explained that the Roundtable was seen as a first step in bringing together the various stakeholders and looked forward to future meetings. The issue of prison nurseries and whether their development was a positive or negative step in the reform process was identified as one that clearly needed much further discussion. An electronic listserve has been established so that attendees at the Roundtable can continue to share information. The seminar was sponsored by the Sigrid Rausing Trust, a philanthropic grant-giving charitable foundation registered in the United Kingdom which takes as its guiding framework the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Further information: Women in Prison Health in Prisons For more information on the round table please contact Jenni Gainsborough jgainsborough@penalreform.org
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