September 22, 2022
Heartbreak ahead from prison transfers
A former prisoner says moving women out of Arohata Prison will cause additional suffering and is ion breach of Corrections’ own policies for Māori and women inmates.
Many of the 100 or so inmates in the prison are being sent to Christchurch and Auckland so staff can be transferred to cover shartages at Rimutaka men’s prison.
Victoria University sociologist and criminologist Awatea Mita says during her own incarceration a woman was moved up from Wellington and put in her cell.
“She had been separated from her daughter – she was crying through the night, through different parts of the day, she would hold the picture of her daughter and just being absolutely heartbroken and I think we can all relate to that,” she says.
Ms Mita says the cost of travelling to Christchurch for prison visits would be out of reach for many whanau from the lower North Island, increasing the women’s isolation and prospects of rehabilitation.
There is also a problem with wahine being transferred Auckland when problems with the punitive culture at that prison have still not been resolved.