Nine
of us visited the newest women’s prison
in Lai Chi Kok on 23 May 2007. The premises
are converted government quarters.
Some
impressions:
“Despite
the good facilities it was heart-rending
to see so many young women (80% of them
from the Mainland) incarcerated for overstaying,
prostitution or forged I.D.
I
found the small TV room filled with women
on their day off particularly oppressive.
I saw no possibility for these women to
have any real space in which to do something
for themselves or something constructive
- it was hardly a conducive environment
for reading a book or writing a letter.
Overall
I found the correctional aspect of the prison
service negligible. In this day and age
one would hope we could better serve people
who contravene the law in such minor ways
- the women just looked bewildered to me
- I bet some of them barely understand why
they are there.
The
prisoners are very well cared for by professional
staff; however, I do question the need for
the HKG Government to imprison Mainland
over-stayers at tax payers’ expense,
rather than immediate deportation.
The
fact that smoking is allowed in the prison
is astonishing - and contrary to the new
smoking regulations that apply to life outside
the prison gates - not to mention the health
of all the women inside the prison.
All
smoking privileges should be removed and
efforts made to help prisoners stop smoking
rather than spent on creating smoking areas.”
The
Public Affairs Committee welcomes your comments
and invites anyone who is interested in
our work to join our committee. We particularly
need members with legal knowledge.
We
are also looking at flexible working hours/conditions
for women, the fall in the number of women
in top advisory roles, and the doubling
in the number of women earning less than
HK$3,000 per month between 1996 and 2005.
Moyreen
Tilbrook
Public Affairs Convenor
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