Nothing Entertaining about Women Behind Bars

In response to a question by Alex Salmond (Banff & Buchan, Scottish National Party) on 9th October, Gerry Sutcliffe the arithmetically challenged Home Office Minister detailed the monstrous way prisons are treated as dustbins for women who need medical treatment and assistance ;

No records are kept centrally of the number of women entering prison with drug, alcohol and mental health problems.

He could state however that Epidemiological studies , show ....

1. 40% of sentenced women are classified as hazardous drinkers;

of these women 77% had 2 or more mental disorders and 33% of the remainder had one mental disorder

2. 47% of women on remand report severe drug dependence and 7% moderate dependence;

of these women 75% had mental disorders

3. 90 % of women prisoners had at least one mental health disorder with 14 % possessing several disorders

There is limited information available on the proportion of women receiving interventions for drug dependency, records are not available centrally to show what proportion of women have had interventions to address the misuse of alcohol.

Women prisoners commencing treatment programs were ;

2003-04 297
2004-05 448
2005-06 577

The treatment of women in UK prisons is a stain on the nation, it is worse than they might expect in the Third World ... where many of them come from being forced to act as drug mules.

There are not votes in drug and alcohol crazed, abused women.

PS In 2003 14 women took their own lives in prison - 9 in 2002 - 6 in 2001.

The female prison population is appproximately 4,500