"Troubled Inside" is the name
of a conference organised in 2004 by Mind (mental health charity) and
the Prison Reform Trust to look at the vulnerability of many males in
prison (UK). This was followed by a report of the same name in 2005.
The results (see links below) were pretty shocking. The two organisations
had already earlier carried out the same research into the vulnerability
of many females in prison.
http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/sub
... asp?id=317
http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/sub
... asp?id=318
In 2005 there was also a study carried out by Dr Seena Fazel (University
of Oxford), which found that men are 5 times more likely to commit suicide
in prison than outside of it. Young offenders aged between 15 and 17,
are 18 times more likely to commit suicide in prison than they are outside
of it (see link below).
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/30665.php
This is all evidence that the vulnerability of many male prisoners
needs addressing just as much as the vulnerability of many female prisoners.
Yet both the media and politicians are choosing to ignore the needs
of male prisoners. There has been proposals to send only violent women
to prison, with alternatives to prison for all other female offenders
(see links below). These alternatives do not seem to include vulnerable
male prisoners. In fact, with suggestions of making the empty women's
prisons into men's prisons, and the three "Titan" prisons
suggested to be built in the UK, it seems as if there will be more males
behind bars than ever soon.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6444961.stm
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/opinion-
... 478552.htm
This discrimination (in particular where suicide by prisoners is concerned)
would seem to breach European human rights legislation however.
The European Convention on Human Rights states:
No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment.
The mental torture of prisoners who are so unable to face imprisonment
that they will kill themselves seems to be covered by this. The link
below is a report by a House of Lords/Commons joint committee discussing
this matter. I note there is no mention of gender here:
http://www.markwalton.net/humanrights/index.asp
Also, the European Convention on Human Rights states:
The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this convention
shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race,
colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or
social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth
or other status.
