A Time of Love?

I am sure we all have somebody we wish we were better at loving. We find it easy to love when we receive love and kindness in return, but as soon as somebody wrongs us or does not thank us, we feel they no longer deserve our love.

It is even harder to love a stranger. In particular, a stranger who may have committed a terrible crime. I doubt that many of us have the 11 million prisoners of this world on our list of people we want to show love to this Christmas. And why would we?

There is darkness in the world and justice must be sought. But these prisoners could so easily be you or I, a mother or a father, a brother or a sister. We must not deny them their humanity and their right to be treated with compassion.

Martin Luther King famously said:

 “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that” 

We aim to show love to some of the world’s detainees through medical care, pastoral care, feeding programmes and advocacy work. We urgently require your support to enable us to continue this work. Donations of any amount will be so gratefully received and will have a lasting impact on the work we are able to do.

Wherever you are, we hope you have a very happy Christmas, filled with hope, peace, joy and love.

Click here to donate.

#Choosetochallenge Period Poverty in Prisons

International Women’s Day 2021

Today is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate the achievement of women globally and to raise awareness of difficulties that women continue to face. This year’s theme #choosetochallenge is a way for organisations and communities to unite in challenging gender inequality and discrimination of women worldwide.

Bangkok Rules

2020 marked ten years since the Bangkok Rules were established by the UN to ensure appropriate treatment of women prisoners and protection of their human rights. This includes women awaiting trial, those serving prison sentences and also those with sentences other than imprisonment. They also protect the rights of children who accompany their parents to prison. These 70 rules include guidance on gender-specific healthcare, rehabilitation and training, which supplements the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as the Nelson Mandela Rules.

Within the basic rules on personal hygiene, rule 5 states:

The accommodation of women prisoners shall have facilities and materials required to meet women’s specific hygiene needs, including sanitary towels provided free of charge and a regular supply of water to be made available for the personal care of children and women, in particular women involved in cooking and those who are pregnant, breastfeeding or menstruating.

In 2019 the UK announced it would provide free sanitary products to all female prisoners. However this is an unusual exception: around the world, it is so common for women prisoners to face difficulty accessing soap and water to keep themselves clean during their periods, let alone have the sanitary products they also need. And these challenges are on top of the stigma and shame attached to menstruation in many cultures.

Period Poverty

‘Period Poverty’ is the term used to describe the inability to access sanitary products and adequate hygiene measures due to the lack of financial resources. It also relates to a lack of education for boys and girls on menstruation and hygiene. Period poverty leads to many girls and women missing out on their education, and also prejudicial treatment in many communities.

In 2015 the UN General Assembly set out 17 sustainable development goals to make the world a better place by 2030, through addressing poverty, inequality and climate change. Within these goals, numbers five (gender equality) and six (clean water and sanitation) directly address period poverty:

Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.

Target 6.2: By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations.

These targets are important for all of us as we aim to end period poverty.

Period poverty in prison

A recent article by Prison Reform International highlighted how many female prisoners experience period poverty, especially in low and middle income countries (LMICs). All too often, women are dependent on visitors to bring them sanitary protection. Yet they are frequently reluctant to even ask their male relatives - and these relatives often do not think to consider their incarcerated relative's feminine hygiene needs. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, most prisons and other secure environments have drastically reduced - often completely stopped - visiting rights. Our own police custody welfare service in the Philippines has seen first hand evidence of just how much women detainees are struggling during lockdown. Mam Loy (pictured above), our Philippines Operations Manager, explains more:-

The cells are 8x7 foot and they usually hold about 20 detainees. They share one toilet separated by a thin wall from the rest of the cell. Those most recently incarcerated struggle the most to use the toilet, given the proximity to the other women.

Comparisons

It is hard for Europeans and other High Income Country readers to conceptualise this level of space restriction. 20 detainees in 8x7 feet equates to just less than 0.25 square metres per woman, which is 16 times more crowded than the minimum level of personal space permitted in the standards for European prisons set by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT).

The Solution

While not all governments can immediately adopt the Bangkok Rules, our own organisation - Integritas Healthcare - has been giving this matter serious consideration since the end of 2018. In 2019, a team of healthcare professionals set about educating a cohort of Filipina remand prisoners on the use of menstrual cups, giving out a cup to every woman who attended our seminars and wished to try one. The pandemic prevented our planned 2020 follow-up research from taking place. However, as soon as possible, we will be reactivating this research stream. If this research proves that menstrual cups are popular and feasible to use within Philippine detention settings, we aim to start issuing them as standard to any Filipina detainee within our care.

In the meantime, we are trying to help as many Filipina detainees as possible with conventional sanitary protection. If you'd like to help us do this, our #Coronacash appeal is in ever great need of funds. And we are happy to respect requests that donations be used purely for menstrual hygiene.

What can you do?

Creating awareness around period poverty is vitally important. Talking about it will start to break the walls of stigma attached to menstruation. Why not take to social media and use #choosetochallenge and #endperiodpoverty to start a conversation?

You could also share this article with friends and family and use the hyperlinks embedded to educate yourself further on period poverty in prison.

Closer to your own home, you could buy feminine hygiene products and donate them to your local food bank or women’s refuge.

And, once again, you could help us to help Filipina detainees in period poverty.

Whatever you do, take time this International Women’s Day to consider what you would #choosetochallenge to achieve gender equality and end discrimination.

Price of Pandemic on Prisoners

A startling report was published by HM Inspectorate of Prisons on February 11th 2021 about the effects of restrictions imposed on prisoners in England since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prisoners have had to spend 22 hours in a cell every day and have been unable to attend work, education, rehabilitation interventions or gyms, in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. Visits from relatives and friends have also been suspended or highly restricted.

Saving lives

When the first lockdown was implemented back in March 2020, radical changes had to be made within the prison system as it was estimated that 2,000 prisoners could die from COVID-19. To an extent the measures have worked: the numbers of deaths has remained low thanks to the precautions.

The prisoners, made aware of the restrictions in the community, not only understood the necessity of prison lockdowns but also felt largely safe from the virus. As time has stretched on though, their mental strength to endure their restrictions has worn thin. Many desire the resumption of activities to make their lives meaningful again.

Price paid

The lasting psychological, physical and emotional impacts are already starting to show, with prisoners reporting an increase in self-harming behaviours, drug misuse, and deterioration in physical and mental health.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, commented

‘The cumulative effect of such prolonged and severe restrictions on prisoners’ mental health and well-being is profound. The lack of support to reduce reoffending and help prisoners address their risk of serious harm to the public does not fill me with hope for the longer term […] Locking prisoners up in prolonged isolation has never been a feature of a healthy prison.’

The conditions many are faced with are not those you would wish upon anyone: eating meals in the same room as an unlidded toilet, inadequate ventilation, and often sitting alongside a cellmate. Those housed in single cells may not have the difficulty of being cramped in with another, but instead suffer the psychological impact of isolation and loneliness. These descriptions sounds more like those found in the detention centres of a low or middle income country, not the United Kingdom.

When allowed out of their cells for the daily activities of showering and exercise, there is a strict time limit. Many are frustrated that they don’t have long enough to complete these tasks.

Although the report does state that inter-prisoner violence has decreased, due to the reduction in face-to-face contact between prisoners, bullying and intimidation have increased.

And many prisoners have remarked on how underprepared they are for release into the outside world; without access to rehabilitation programmes or meaningful work, their chance of re-offending is far higher.

The solution?

The introduction of video calling and in-cell telephones have allowed some prisoners to remain in contact with their support networks. This may even be a post-pandemic solution for many isolated prisoners of the future.

The end of January saw eligible prisoners in England being offered vaccines, in line with the community rollout. This sparked some public debate as elderly & certain ill offenders will now be receiving vaccination before their (perhaps younger or fitter) victims in the community. That said, prisoners are not the only ones at risk within the prison system: prison staff are at risk and their representative bodies feel that both they and their prisoners should be higher up the vaccination queue.

Whilst individuals may disagree as to who should go to the top of the queue, there is common ground in the knowledge that we cannot fight this virus whilst fighting each other. We must act as a team to stop the spread and save lives.

The future

The longer-term impact of the restrictions imposed on prisoners is yet to fully come to light. However, this report has shown that - unless we act soon - many offenders are at risk of serious mental and physical deterioration. It is too soon to lift the restrictions without putting thousands of lives at risk. So, in order to emerge from this pandemic safely, we must look to vaccination as the way forward - in prisons as in the community.