‘Hell on earth’: Taskforce to tour women’s jails as stories come to light

After stories of women behind bars bleeding through their shorts without sanitary items, and prison work being “akin to slave labour”, a taskforce will visit jails across the state to hear from female inmates.

The plan to visit women’s prisons comes as the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce released its discussion paper on female experiences of the criminal justice system.

Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce Chair Margaret McMurdo AC. 

The experiences of women and girls as accused persons and offenders will also for the first time be considered by an independent consultative taskforce in Queensland.

Chair Margaret McMurdo AC said in coming months the taskforce would travel to women’s prisons, including in Townsville, Gatton and the Brisbane region, to hear from women on their experiences in custody, including their access to adequate healthcare while in prison.

The taskforce said it had heard from a woman who detailed her time in a police watch house as “hell on earth”, with requested sanitary items taking hours to be delivered to the cell.

“She bled through her underwear and shorts, was not provided with a change of clothes and spent days in soiled clothing, causing her trauma and humiliation.

“She was allowed only one shower in five days and only a bar of soap and toothpaste [no toothbrush],” the discussion paper read.

Another taskforce submission described the work in prison as being “akin to slave labour”.

“My wages ranged from $2.20 to $7.60 per day. For the six months of my sentence I earnt under $25 a week working 7am to 6pm in the kitchen ... the issue is you have the ability to earn so little, but the costs for necessities in prison are high,” the discussion paper read.

“You also have to purchase all your toiletries, underwear and socks ... without outside help I would have had to make a decision between education, toiletries, and contact with my daughter.”

“I remember going to work camp and receiving $60 for working seven days straight doing landscaping and painting in the summer heat. We would leave at 6.30pm and return at 5am.”

Taskforce submission

Ms McMurdo said an issue raised in the taskforce’s third discussion paper was women’s access to qualified forensic medical examiners in remote areas.

The taskforce had heard qualified forensic medical examiners were often not readily available in rural Queensland and women and girls were asked to travel long distances or wait long periods without showering before a forensic examination.

Other issues included the over-representation of First Nations women in the criminal justice system.

“We know, for example, First Nations victims of crime represent 13.3 per cent of all victims of crime and they only represent 4.6 per cent of the population,” Ms McMurdo said.

“And they’re very over-represented as offenders. They’re 14 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous women, so it’s pretty confronting. There are a number of reasons for it, perhaps we will learn more as to the reasons for it.”

The discussion paper also detailed that over the past two decades there had been calls for the
Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions to implement a formal complaint and review process.

“We do know the DPP is looking at those areas and trying to work on them and has done a lot of work developing and improving training and outreach to victims. But can more be done? That’s what we want to know,” Ms McMurdo said.

“Certainly the support to victims during the investigation, preparation for trial and trial process is obviously something that needs looking at. So far, and from the general discussion of advocates that we hear about publicly, it is an issue.”

These had not been considered previously by an independent consultative taskforce in Queensland.

The scope of the paper also includes community attitudes toward sexual consent, the barriers women and girls face in reporting sexual violence, and their experiences when they do report, both during the investigation and throughout the legal and court process.

“Each submission – whether from women and girls, organisations or professionals – is read, valued and considered carefully. We greatly appreciate the time and effort people have put into making such a valuable contribution to our work,” Ms McMurdo said.

The report will be delivered by June.