The prison service in the North is still failing women prisoners, and has not implemented key recommendations made in a damning report from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) three years ago.
Despite failures which led to at least one suicide that could have been prevented, in 2004, there is still no strategy for dealing with female prisoners, according to the authors of a new report from the NIHRC to be published today.
The NIHRC and the British inspectorate of prisons strongly criticised the regime at Magha-berry Prison, and said low security women prisoners were disadvantaged at many levels in a male high security prison. The prison service then moved the 50 or so women to a new male prison - a block in the Hydebank centre for young offenders.
Earlier this year, coroner John Leckey found that the suicide of Roseanne Irvine at Maghaberry could have been prevented. Her family has since received an apology from the head of the prison service. Mr Leckey said women were treated as "second class citizens" in the prison.
According to the NIHRC, women are still disadvantaged at Hydebank, with restricted and unequal access to healthcare, education and recreation. Women who pose no security threat spend two-thirds of their time locked in their cells. "We are calling once again for a separate and self-contained facility for women prisoners," said Monica McWilliams, chief commissioner at the NIHRC.
Many women prisoners have mental health problems and should not be jailed, according to the NIHRC. "We highlight the demand for appropriate mental health facilities to be made available in the community," said Ms McWilliams. Over 40 per cent of women prisoners are jailed for non-payment of fines. Prison should be a "last resort" in such cases, the report states.
The Prison Within, by Prof Phil Scraton and Dr Linda Moore, calls for an end to the practice of body searching, which women find degrading. It says prison officers working with women should have proper training. Girls under the age of 18 are currently detained in the prison. This is "in serious breach of international human rights standards and should be ended". The report makes 55 recommendations and the NIHRC says it will monitor their implementation.