Around half the women in Stirling’s Cornton Vale jail can’t get proper access to sanitation – access to the toilet in a timely fashion with waits of an hour recorded. with prisoners given advice to urinate in the sink.
SSP executive member and RISE Mid-Scotland and Fife lead candidate Jenni Gunn comments:
“Access to sanitation and clean water is a human right. The fact that many women in Cornton Vale are being denied access to proper sanitation and being made to wait for up to an hour to use the proper facilities is not only a breach of their human rights, but an affront to their right to human dignity. It’s an entirely unacceptable situation that demonstrates the harsh nature of life in Cornton Vale prison.
“Cornton Vale is clearly not fit for purpose. Scotland is facing a major issue regarding the sentencing of women, with the second highest female incarceration rate in northern Europe.
“Women are being sentenced to short term prison sentences when they pose no risk to the public. Rates of incarceration have gone up 120% for women since 2002, and many women in Cornton Vale suffer from mental health issues, addiction or have been the victims of abuse. These women need help, and locking them up is perpetuating a cycle that shows no signs of stopping. When we lock up women, it’s also their families and their entire communities that suffer as a result. We need to find alternatives to custodial sentence for women offenders, and we need to do it now.”
Photo of Jenni: © Craig Maclean