Use of Isolation Increasing for Women Prisoners

Article by Julia Lutsky and Brigette Sarabi

The increasing use of isolation cells for “troublesome prisoners” now applies as much to women prisoners as to their male counterparts. “Troublesome” includes such diverse conduct as jailhouse lawyering, political activism, the reporting of custodial misconduct, or simply exhibiting signs of mental or emotional distress or illness. Bonnie Kerness of the American Friends Service Committee cites letters in which women report being “housed in cells with no windows. The toilet, shower and everything else is in this one room. ... We go outside in a cage similar to the size of this cell for one hour [four times a week]. Every time we come out of our cells, we are shackled. If we see a doctor, the nurse and an officer [are] in the room. It is very embarrassing to have an officer pull down your pants for your pap smear.”

Kerness sums up the entire situation succinctly when she says, “ Each and every one of the practices that the women have testified about [is] in violation of dozens of international treaties and covenants that the United States has signed. These practices violate the United Nations Convention Against Torture, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, UN Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and a dozen other international and regional laws and standards.”

This information was taken from Bonnie Kerness, Associate Director, American Friends Service Committee Criminal Justice Program: draft for speech given for Ms. Kerness June 2003.

This article originally appeared as part of a longer article in Justice Matters Summer 2003.