Human Rights
Women, including female prisoners, need access to contraceptives, abortions, and protection against sexually transmitted diseases; however, most prisons have little to no access to reproductive choices (Johnson 1). Female inmates need access to abortions and contraceptives because sometimes they are raped while they are in jail, they may not be able to raise a child due to imprisonment, their unattended miscarriages can lead to death, and it is difficult to give birth in prison. In addition, female prisoners need protection against Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) in order to decrease infection in and out of prisons.
Incarcerated women should have access to birth control, because giving birth while in prison is a horrible experience. For instance, forty out of fifty states still allow incarcerated women to be chained while giving birth (Johnson 653). During labor women struggle, fight, push, and utilize all their strength. Chains and other restrictions just make the experience psychologically and physically more difficult for women in labor. For a better visual of what these women go through Avalon Johnson the author of, “Access To Elective Abortions For Female Prisoners Under The Eighth And Fourteenth Amendments.” explains that “…forty states still use some type of restraint, including belly chains, leg irons, and handcuffs during labor and delivery (Johnson 653).” In addition, the experience is not only degrading, but it may also present complications. For example, some of the complications that may occur are hemorrhage and decreased fatal heart rate (Johnson 653). Women in labor should not have to experience these emotional and physical hardships, which is why female inmates need access to birth control and...
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... abortion, contraception and protection for STDs is apparent. So to some extent, the health of prisoners affects everyone. It is inhumane to keep treating female prisoners this way and it should be stopped.
Works Cited
Grinstead, Olga, et al. "HIV And STD Testing In Prisons: Perspectives Of In-Prison Service Providers." AIDS Education & Prevention 15.6 (2003): 547-560. Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
Johnson, Avalon. "Access To Elective Abortions For Female Prisoners Under The Eighth And Fourteenth Amendments. (Spanish)." American Journal Of Law & Medicine 37.4 (2011): 652-683. Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
VanNatta, Michelle. "Conceptualizing And Stopping State Sexual Violence Against Incarcerated Women." Social Justice 37.1 (2010): 27-52. Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
Sexually transmitted diseases in prison are a byproduct of sexual victimization as well. Sexual Victimization can include rape, being submissive to a dominant figure, and choosing the least resistant path. According to previous statistics, four percent of inmates have been sexually victimized in a given year. More recently, Beck and Stroop (2017) found similar findings. In addition to measuring sexual victimization within a year’s time, they measure it by institution type. For federal and state facilities, combined four percent of its inmates have suffered from sexual victimization. The chance of being sexually assaulted by another inmate is 2%. The chances of being sexually victimized by staff are slightly higher at 2.4%. When separating the two, data shows that those in federal corrections systems have a higher chance of being sexually victimized
Over the course of the last century, abortion in the Western hemisphere has become a largely controversial topic that affects every human being. In the United States, at current rates, one in three women will have had an abortion by the time they reach the age of 45. The questions surrounding the laws are of moral, social, and medical dilemmas that rely upon the most fundamental principles of ethics and philosophy. At the center of the argument is the not so clear cut lines dictating what life is, or is not, and where a fetus finds itself amongst its meaning. In an effort to answer the question, lawmakers are establishing public policies dictating what a woman may or may not do with regard to her reproductive rights.
Since the beginning of American history, citizens who resided the country lacked the basic civil rights and liberties that humans deserved. Different races and ethnicities were treated unfairly. Voting rights were denied to anyone who was not a rich, white male. Women were harassed by their bosses and expected to take care of everything household related. Life was not all that pretty throughout America’s past, but thankfully overtime American citizens’ civil liberties and rights expanded – granting Americans true freedom.
In fact, one of the most leading violence in the prison setting is sexual victimization. It involves different behaviors from sexually abusive contact to nonconsensual sexual assault. These assaults present bigger issues within the prison such as being exposed to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, causing the inmate to retaliate, depression and suicidal gestures. (Wolf, N, 2006) In 2011, a random sample of not less than 10% of all federal, state prisons, county prisons, and municipal prisons in America was drawn. At the end of the annual sample, 8,763 allegations of sexual victimization were reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. (Roberts, N., 2014) As stated, this only included 10% percent of the prison excluding the other 90 % of prisons in America. In 2009, 7,855 allegations were filed and in 2010, 8,404 with 51 percent involving nonconsensual sex acts or abusive contact amongst inmates. The other 49% involved prison staff that resulted in sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. In 2012, the Department of Justice estimated that about 1 in 10 inmates were sexually assaulted by officers with high expectation that it would only continue to increase. (Roberts, N.,
Women in Prison. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics Varnam, Steve. Our prisons are a crime (reforming the prison system). Editorial. Christianity Today 21 June 1993
According to Dumond (2003), “ rape among weak and susceptible prison inmates is currently one of the most psychologically tormenting crimes committed in prison which usually goes unnoticed, unattended and are usually not prosecuted.” Unfortunately, the issue of rape among inmates still continues and is currently facing a counter attack by legislation. Furthermore, Dumond (2003) indicates, “the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 was enacted to provide relief and hopefully reduce and eliminate the incidence of rape in prison.”
Almost all prisons face the mass problem of rape. Approximately 15.7% of inmates are raped in federal prisons. The percentage is raised in juvenile delinquent centers to 20%. Little has been done by government or prison wards to stop rapists inside of prisons. Attorney General Holder recently put extreme limitations on reports of prison rape. Annually, there are 200,000 reported victims of prison rape. However, experts and researches believe there
Although the actual number of pregnant women incarcerated in the United States is somewhat unclear, it is estimated that six to ten percent of the females sentenced to prison are pregnant when incarcerated. (Guerino et.al., 2011) The majority of female inmates that are sentenced to prison after felony convictions are s...
What is the purpose of prison for females? The purpose of prison for females is to punish the offender and act as a deterrent to those who commit crime. The criminal justice system has no problem when it comes to dealing with female inmates. The jails and prison all over the country have been constructed to house male inmates. The female population is a small minority of the prison population. When it comes down to accommodating females in prison facilities, they have been neglected in terms of facility services they have access to. These issues have brought equality issues and the need to address them. All females’ inmates should have equal treatment and comparable resources as the male inmates.
Bonnie, S. F., Francis, T. C., & Michael, G. T. (2000) The sexual victimization of college women. U.S. Department of Justice.
A vast majority of women who is incarcerated in U.S. prison systems are mothers of young children. Women inmates, who are in their late stages of pregnancy, will more than likely give birth while incarcerated behind bars (Hanser & Gomila, 2015). Not all penal institutions in the U.S. are equipped with adequate facilities, or prison nursery programs to accommodate incarcerated mothers and their infant. An infant’s bonding time with his or her mother is very critical during the first few months; however, not all prison facilities will allow incarcerated mothers the opportunity to bond with their child due to prison policies (Hanser & Gomila, 2015). Mothers in prison are incarcerated in remote areas where it is very difficult for their children to visit them. This case study will explore the issue of motherhood in prison, which is also
Prisons serve the same reason for women and men, they are also tools of social control. The imprisonment of women in the U.S. has always been a different experience then what men go through. The proportion of women in prison has always differed from that of men by a large amount. Women have traditionally been sent to prison for different reasons, and once in prison they endure different conditions of incarceration. Women incarcerated tend to need different needs for physical and mental health issues. When a mother is incarcerated it tends to play an impact on the children also. Over time the prison system has created different gender responsive programs to help with the different needs of female offenders. After being released from prison
Firstly, prison society is mainly shaped due to the inmates themselves. With the process of prisonization, an inmate adopts the role of a prisoner. The consequences of this lead inmates to be dangerous, unpredictable, and volatile due to the fear of the prison. In order to combat this for the prisoners benefit prison offer habilitation services and treatment programs. Habilitation services aim to give an inmate an education and a vocational skill. Education helps lower criminality by promoting a sense of investment in society. Vocational skills benefit inmates because by securing a job and staying drug free recidivism rates appear to be reduced. Treatment programs are beneficiary to inmates because they change the way the inmate behaves, thinks, and aids in breaking addictions. Through the use of therapies and counseling, prisons aim to change the behavior that steered an individual into crime, and reshape and offenders way of thinking and acting. Male inmates coping skill are also beneficiary to prison society. Men usually form gangs in prison for protection; since the society is very dangerous fear is a main underlying factor in the actions of prisoners. To have people watch your back helps calm tension in a hostile society. On the contrary female offenders aren’t as violent as male, so females don’t look for protection. Females like to replace what they
On December 10th in 1948, the general assembly adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration, although not legally binding, created “a common standard of achievement of all people and all nations…to promote respect for those rights and freedoms” (Goodhart, 379). However, many cultures assert that the human rights policies outlined in the declaration undermine cultural beliefs and practices. This assertion makes the search for universal human rights very difficult to achieve. I would like to focus on articles 3, 14 and 25 to address how these articles could be modified to incorporate cultural differences, without completely undermining the search for human rights practices.
A right is an individual’s entitlement to freedom of choice and well-being. We have the right to live without interference from others and government, free will. A legal right is the entitlement that derives from a legal standpoint that allows someone to act in a specific way and for others to react in specified ways. For instance, the U.S. Constitution states all citizens have the right to the freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. These rights guaranteed to us as citizens of the United States of America. A moral right is a universal right that all human beings of every race or nationality has the same rights because we are humans. Human rights based off the fact that we are human beings and possess the right by virtue. These rights