Family and friends of women who have died at Melbourne’s maximum-security women’s prison Dame Phyllis Frost Centre (DPFC) have gathered for a vigil to call for an end to deaths in custody.
The gathering follows the death of an Aboriginal mother on 29 November at Sunshine Hospital, where she had been transferred from DPFC to receive medical treatment.
Gunditjmara woman and former prisoner Jamie-Lee Clarke said she’s devastated by her friend’s death.
“She was the most beautiful, smart and by far funniest person I've met in my life,” Ms Clarke told NITV News.
“She got me through the hardest moments without my son while I was in custody."
Four women and one baby have died in custody at DPFC over the past four years.
Two of the women were Aboriginal.
“I feel like we need the world to look at what's going on behind those bars,” Ms Clarke said.
Women denied medical care
When Ms Clarke was in custody in March, she went into labour with her son. She said prison guards refused to call an ambulance.
“I was in pain, I had contractions and I was like, ‘I’m having this baby, get me to hospital!'” Ms Clarke said.
“Because of the tone I used, they refused me medical treatment.”
Ms Clarke gave birth two and half days later after she was escorted to hospital in a corrections vehicle.
“It was a traumatic birth. There were a few complications because he was large and they didn’t expect that," Ms Clarke said.
“I wasn't allowed to have appointments too close to the birth because they thought I would escape.”
Ms Clarke said she knows other prisoners have worse experiences with prison guards at DPFC.
“They use their power against us so if we don't jump when they say jump and it's an emergency, they will hold it off.”
NITV News reached out to Corrections Victoria for comment.
Elizabeth Morgan House Aboriginal Women’s Service CEO Kellyanne Andy said the deaths in custody reflect a lack of adequate care.
“Women in prison continue not to have their right to medical care respected or met,” Ms Andy said.
“There is a vital need for Aboriginal people in custody to have better access to culturally-safe medical assessments and care.”
Calls for alternatives to prison
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are the fastest-growing group in Victorian prisons.
The Victorian government announced a $188.9 million investment in March to expand the women’s DPFC prison.
Ms Andy said the investment is devastating to Aboriginal mothers who make up 80 per cent of women in prisons.
“These deplorably high rates of parental incarceration result in the continued removal of Aboriginal children from family and culture,” Ms Andy said.
A Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry in 2010 identified housing as the most overwhelming problem facing female offenders, linking it closely to women offending and reoffending.
“Many Aboriginal women are denied bail due to a lack of appropriate housing, essentially further punishing women and their children for being homeless,” Ms Andy said.
“Aboriginal women need more homes, not more prison beds."
The Victorian government announced $5.3 billion to fund new homes around the state in November.
The investment will deliver 9,300 new social housing homes and replace 1,100 old public housing units.
“It is essential that there are more housing options for women experiencing the criminal justice system, better access to care within the prisons and support for Aboriginal women to heal from their experiences in the justice system,” Ms Andy said.
500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody since a Royal Commission handed down a report in 1991 aimed at preventing Indigenous deaths in the justice system.
“People who have made mistakes are continuously paying for it with the deprivation of their human rights and abuse of power being forced on them,” Ms Clarke said.
“Something needs to change.”
