BY GAIL LORD
SYDNEY — Community activists from Richmond, Penrith and across the Blue Mountains are organising to stop a new women's prison from being built in Windsor, on the city's western outskirts. They say the state government should implement the recommendations of a parliamentary committee, including a moratorium on the numbers of women imprisoned.
The new jail will cost $42 million, money the activists argue should be spent on other programs, including developing alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offences.
At a meeting of opponents of the new prison on January 18, one women told of how hard it had been for her to get counselling when in jail. Not one person had ever asked her why she had used drugs, she said. Yet 70-90% of women in the state's jails have a drug addiction and 85% of them are survivors of sexual abuse or incest.
At any one time, at least 30% of the women inside are indigenous and 30% come from Sydney's three most disadvantaged suburbs.
At a February 1 meeting, the alliance of activists decided to produce an information kit and support a young woman's protest walk against the new prison. Louisiana, who is partially sighted, will be walking from Lithgow to Sydney towards the end of March.
The next day meeting will take place at the Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre in Station Street on February 15 from 11.30am. Contact Bridget or Mary on (02) 4759 3599 for further details.