Spike in female inmate numbers

A population boom of female prisoners has been blamed on a spike in drug-related offending.

There are now almost as many women behind bars in a separate unit at the site of a men’s prison in Wellington as there are in the region’s women’s prison, Arohata.

A nationwide explosion in female prisoner numbers – including those on remand and sentenced – has seen figures rocket from 497 in 2009 to 812 last Monday.

Of these, 109 were at Arohata Prison in Tawa and 103 at the Arohata Upper Prison – a self-contained unit at Rimutaka Men’s Prison in Upper Hutt.

Wellington-based defence lawyer Seth Fraser said methamphetamine was the common factor.

‘‘They are stealing for money for P or are on P and they do ridiculous things.

‘‘A lot of them are not really main offenders, they are more auxiliary offenders; for example, they are covering for somebody who is probably male.’’

Fraser said he had seen cases in which women had hidden drugs or paraphernalia on themselves, including one women who hid methamphetamine in her bra.

Female offenders could also bring more challenges for the justice system than men.

In Porirua, for example, many were young with children.

‘‘Go to the courts and you will see little kids there, they sometimes have to wait all day with their mums for the matter to be called.

‘‘If prison is being considered, the court does consider if they are looking after kids and who will look after them – absolutely.’’

One of his clients had been ‘‘borderline’’ at risk of imprisonment but avoided it as she was her family’s main caregiver.

Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Ferguson, of Porirua, said he had seen a ‘‘shift in crime by women’’ toward more violent offending over the past two years.

There had been a concerning rise in ‘‘woman on woman’’ violence, at times by groups of teenage girls – such those caught on video attacking a girl in the head at Porirua’s Creekfest event in February.

He emphasised what was happening in Porirua was happening around the country. ‘‘I don’t know where the genesis of it is; if it’s from the individual’s home – I don’t know if it’s home influence or community influence.’’

Staff had begun working closer with local colleges to identify early any potential issues leading to criminality.

‘‘Often there’s underlying issues that need to be addressed, and can only be addressed by social workers.’’

A Department of Corrections spokesperson said two-thirds of prisoners had suffered family violence, rape or sexual assault, more than half had post-traumatic stress disorder, and three-quarters had diagnosed mental health problems, compared to 61 per cent of men.

Last year, the government ministry began developing its Women’s Strategy 2017-2021, and it has, so far, introduced social workers, trauma counsellors and rehabilitation services into women’s jails.

Justice advocate Roger Brooking suspected the rate of female prisoners was increasing for much the same reason as it was for men – the tightening of remand laws.

He called on Justice Minister Andrew Little to repeal the Bail Amendment Act to cut the number of inmates on remand.