Awakened Woman magazine

facing the issues

/by Diane Rae Schulz

 

 

Mothers Behind Bars

 Because of mandatory minimum sentencing more and more poor young women are going to jail.

 

What happens when young mothers go to jail? How does it feel to be chained to an iron bed while giving birth? What does it do to a woman to know she has breast cancer and not be able to obtain treatment? What is it like to be constantly subject to male guards (not allowed by international law) who watch while you urinate, shower, bleed - even perhaps demean you sexually or demand sexual service?

Three quarters of the women in prison are mothers, and they're not there for homicide. An overwhelming 92 percent are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses, often their first. Drug offenses account for 66 percent of women in federal prisons. Since federal mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenses was adopted in 1987, adding "conspiracy to sell drugs" in 1988, the population of federal women's prisons has almost doubled. See the Families Against Mandatory Miniumums website for more information: http://www.famm.org/ Although 15 new women's prisons have been built since 1990, overcrowding is a major problem. Many states have taken the federal governments lead and adopted the same type of harsh sentencing, with the same result.

Since women are most often not the dealers or sellers of drugs, but are usually financially dependent on the male dealers, they are the ones arrested for "conspiracy". Patriarchal cultural conditioning reinforces the woman's role of supporting and defending "her man" and submitting to his lifestyle, particularly if she has children to provide for. Often the man submits to plea bargaining and serves less time in jail because he identifies her as his "conspirator". And once she's incarcerated, she's likely to lose her parental rights.

This is not to say that men in prison don't suffer personal indignities, loss of self esteem and access to their children, but what does it say about our pompous politically correct pronouncements about "family values" when we doubly punish women, the majority of whom have been physically or sexually abused as children, are frequently survivors of violent adult relationships and are hopelessly stuck in poverty, by taking away from them the one productive role that is available to them?

The condition of women's prisons in America is the worst of any industrialized country. We seem to think that organizations like Amnesty International exist for other countries than our own. Think again. These are conditions right here at home. In November of last year, Amnesty International was asked to inspect the Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW) in California. Their concerns included sexual abuse of prisoners by male guards and inadequate medical and mental health care. Their report can be viewed at: http://www.amnesty.org Another report, a review of conditions of incarcerated women in Michigan by Human Rights Watch on their state prisons can be viewed at: http://www.hrw.org

The picture that emerges is grim and seemingly hopeless, but the more public awareness is stimulated by revelations of the truth of the situation, the greater the likelihood that people will begin to see the need to change the laws and find ways to help the mothers and children who have been caught up in this nightmare. We will be presenting many more in depth stories in our future issues about steps that are being taken to change the picture. First, let's face it squarely for the hypocrisy it is. Then we can focus on the necessary changes.

The reality we need to address is a complex weave of negative forces stemming from the patriarchal culture that we live within and whose laws we are compelled to live under. In recent statements by G. Edward Wensuc of the Colorado state Division of Criminal Justice regarding the rapidly increasing population of women, the issues involved are clear:

  • "When someone is not able to cope with the fact that she's trying to raise five kids with no money, drugs become a very interesting alternative."
  • "Women have traditionally gotten into crime for financial reasons. If they havechildren and they're hooked up with someone who's not providing child support,they need to find some means to support themselves and their children."
  • "Relationships are a core component of women who go to prison. Women may be financially dependent on a male for support," therefore may be convicted of drug offenses while only acting as a 'mule' or courier for a spouse or boyfriend.
  • "Colorado's female offenders match the national profile. Many are poorly educated and lack job skills. They have children and little means of support. Many have been physically or sexually abused by a spouse or family member."

The traditional, patriarchal, double standard places women in a financially dependent position to men or to the "big daddy" of the welfare system; it supports a public health institution that does not provide free, widely distributed information on family planning, birth control and abortion, nor does it address physical and sexual abuse within families; it ignores the needs of babies and young children for proper housing, food, health care and schooling.

  • We are living in the richest nation ever to arise on the planet; our economy is booming according to all the predictors -- yet our government, our churches and private institutions have failed to address the simple fact of the extreme poverty that a majority of single mothers live under, and the enormity of the obstacles they face to just survive, let alone make life better for their children. It's time we look at poor women and their children as one of our most pressing problems. We are allowing an entire generation to grow up as superfluous people, discarded by society for no other reason than that they commit the "crime" of being poor in an affluent country.

    We should be ashamed and horrified that young mothers are increasingly being sent to prison for lengthy sentences while their children are left to raise themselves. It's a classic case of victim-blaming, blinding us to the truth that the patriarchal system, which devalues women and puts male interest in war first, is robbing us of our humanity and compassion.

    Because we do not see the extent to which patriarchal culture allows, condones and even praises female dependence and submission to male dominance, often abusive dominance, we will not see how the victims of the system are created in the first place -- by poverty: by lack of access to decent housing, adequate schools and health care, drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, jobs and childcare. We need to put our money to use in seeing that ALL the children of America get an equal chance, not in warehousing the human results of the
    skewed financial priorities decided by male dominated government.