In Women's Interest
E-Mail  by Marcia Bunney  Bio/Address

"Rights do not have to be earned.  Human rights, by definition, are ours by virtue of our humanity."

Ann Jones --- Next Time, She'll Be Dead

Amnesty International Report
     In the context of human rights, the subject of United States Prison Reform has achieved considerable prominence, and with good reason.
    Earlier this year, Amnesty International released a report entitled "United State of America: Rights for all.  In conjunction with its recognition of the 50^th anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in December, 1948, Amnesty is urging the U.S. to practice what it proselytizes, to examine and cease its double standard in taking responsibility for human rights.
     The release of Amnesty's report also serves to launch the organization's first worldwide human rights campaign. This year--long effort will focus on a host of concerns, including the mistreatment of prisoners, with particular attention to the plight of women, juveniles and the mentally ill. Among the more egregious of the U.S. human rights violations are the series of highly publicized "blood sport" shooting deaths at Corcoran State Prison in California, and the continuing dismal standard of medical care provided at two of the state's prison facilities housing women.
     In fact, the State of California, which operates the largest and most costly prison system in the world, has a great deal to answer for in terms of human rights violations. The damage wrought by years of prison expansion at the expense of medical care, education and other pro-social programs and institutions across the board is severe, and not easily reversed. Any meaningful solution must take into consideration the deeply entrenched nature of the social ills which plague our communities, including joblessness, illiteracy, racism and violence--particularly violence against women and children.

UNPRECEDENTED RATE OF INCARCERATION Of WOMEN
     The past two decades have brought unprecedented growth in women's rate of incarceration. Our nation's prisons are full, and their population reflects a greater proportion of women--about 10 percent, nationwide--than at any point in history. In California, for example, mid-1982 saw the population of the state's sole all-female facility at slightly above 1,000. Sixteen years later, that figure exceeds 10,000, reflecting a tenfold increase.
     It has been generally recognized for some time that the "war on drugs" has been the primary cause of this increase. The past few years have brought an awareness that until women's substance abuse problems are addressed, the rate of incarceration for females will continue to soar.

TREATMENT OF WOMEN
     In treating women, however, it is vital to recognize that their core concerns often differ sharply from those of men. Substance abuse recovery programs offered in prisons, as with the majority of such programs on the outside, continue to be formulated using a male model. Feminist advocates, including author Gloria Steinem, have expressed concern that the principles set forth in these programs, which often parallel those of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, act to further impair women's self-esteem, and thus impede their healing process. Additionally, treating substance abuse as an independent problem rather that a symptom of dysfunction shifts the focus from other areas in need of attention, notable literacy and job training/readiness.
     The missing link is the prevalence of abuse in the backgrounds of incarcerated women. Several studies have determined that as many as 88 percent of women incarcerated today have suffered one or more forms of abuse: emotional, physical, sexual. One study conducted in California concluded that women prisoners as a group demonstrate a propensity to respond to the pain of abuse in their lives by "self-medicating" with alcohol and/or drugs. Until incarcerated women receive viable treatment at every level, including care designed to ameliorate the damage inflicted by years of abuse, there is little chance that their lot will improve.

COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTION
     The international focus on women's rights as a human rights question sharpened in March 1994, with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights' appointment of a Special Rapporteur on the causes and consequences of violence against women. The Commission has acknowledged the particular vulnerability of women in its resolution 1996/49, which states in part:

• (The Commission condemns) all acts of gender-based violence against women, and in this regard calls, in accordance with the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, for the elimination of gender-based violence in the family, within the general community and where perpetrated or condoned by the State, and emphasizes the duty of Governments to refrain from engaging in violence against women and to exercise our diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, to punish acts of violence against women and to take appropriate and effective action concerning acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons and to provide access to just and effective remedies and specialized assistance to victims..."

     The Commission notes that the Special Rapporteur has established procedures to seek information from government entities concerning specific cases of alleged violence, and supports the conclusions and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur regarding "the affirmative duty (of states) to promote and protect the human rights of women and (to) exercise due diligence to prevent violence against women, including violence against women in the family..."

The Commission further "calls on States:

• To work actively to ratify and/or implement international human rights norms and instruments as they relate to violence against women;
• To report on measures taken to implement the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women;
• To enact and/or reinforce penal, civil, labor and administrative sanctions in domestic legislation to punish and redress the wrongs done to women and girls who are subjected to any form of violence, whether in the home, the workplace, the community or society...;
• To create, inspire or develop...and fund the training programs for judicial, Legal, medical, social, educational and police and immigrant personnel, in order to avoid the abuse of power leading to violence against women and sensitize such personnel to the nature of gender-based acts and threats of violence so that fair treatment of female victims can be assured;
• To promote research, collect data and compile statistics, especially concerning domestic violence, relating to the prevalence of different forms of violence against women, and encourage research into the causes, nature, seriousness and consequences of violence against women and the effectiveness of measures implemented to prevent and redress violence against women;
• To enact and enforce legislation protecting girls from all forms of violence, including female infanticide and prenatal sex selection, Genital mutilation, incest, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, child prostitution and child pornography(.)"

     The Commission also "requests all Governments to cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of the tasks and duties mandated, to supply all information requested and respond to the Special Rapporteur's visits and communications."

US HYPOCRISY REGARDING HUMAN RIGHTS
     The lens of international relations has now focused on U.S. hypocrisy regarding human rights, a development of enormous significance to those of us who are concerned about the course of women's rights advocacy. That we are a nation in denial is demonstrated by a stubborn resistance to the truth of consequences resulting from our refusal to acknowledge and honor women's rights as human rights.
     It has been said that a nation may be judged by the manner in which all citizens, including prisoners, are treated by their government.  Bearing this premise in mind, the U.S. record on women's issues as human rights concerns leaves much to be desired--and ample room for innovative solutions to be sought and undertaken.
     Interestingly, international censure of the U.S. record on human rights within its own borders has coincided with conservative upsets in elections across the country. In state after state, the voters have rejected candidates whose approach to serious and complex socioeconomic problems has been simplistic, expensive and, ultimately, ruinous: the politics of retribution, rather than restoration.
   It seems we are giving ourselves another chance--finally.

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