Assaults in female jails multiply

Assaults among female prisoners have almost doubled, according to the latest figures, despite the jail population dropping. Corrections says an increase of gang associates in jails may, in part, be to blame for the escalating assaults.

Former prisoners fear the reported attacks are only the tip of the iceberg, in an environment some say is “traumatic and stressful”.

Corrections data released under the Official Information Act shows reported assaults were 22 per 100 prisoners in the year 2018/19, up from 12 in the previous year.

Patricia Walsh, who has served time, witnessed frequent attacks in jail, and said at nights people would often call out telling others to hang themselves.

“There’s no escaping it . . . If someone decides they’re going to hit you the only way out is to go into segregation or you go and tell a guard and then you’re a nark which has other consequences.”

The former prisoner said straight after dinner, when some of the staff left for the night, people would torment other prisoners.

In the last recording year, the jail population fell to 762 from 897 in the previous year. During that time assaults increased from 94 to 161.

“We’re already traumatised because we are women and you’re already removed from your wha¯nau, your children.”

Walsh said those things build up in prison, so some people take out any additional stress by bullying.

Corrections deputy national commissioner Andy Milne said violence in prisons was not solely caused by how they were run.

He said there was extensive evidence in NZ and abroad that gangaffiliated prisoners had higher levels of involvement in prison violence.

Human rights group Amnesty International said the increase highlights the need for more transparency around what is happening in prisons.

Executive director Meg de Ronde said it was concerning to see the increase across all prisons, but in particular Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility, which saw assaults grow from 56 to 104.

Under the classification used by the Department of Correction, these assaults are defined as non-serious.

Serious assaults, or sexual assaults where police charges are laid, are very rare. Only three have been reported in the past five years.

The number of wa¯hine in prisons with gang affiliations rose from 84 in 2015/16 to 128 in the latest records.

Assaults by jailed women against staff rose from 6.3 per 100 inmates (35) in the 2014/15 period, to 10.1 per 100 prisoners (73) in 2018/19.