Action for Prisoners’ Families Relationships and Family Support Seminar 23 September 2014

1. Action for Prisoners’ Families Relationships and Family Support Seminar 23 September 2014

2. Report from the Commission on Sex in Prisons Lorraine Atkinson Howard League

3. Commission on Sex in Prisonmaintaining contact with partners and families outside Lorraine Atkinson The Howard League for Penal Reform www.commissiononsexinprison.org

4. Commission on sex in Prison • Minimal research on sex in prisons in England &Wales • Commission looking at coercive sex, consensual sex and sexual development of children in prison • Seeking to understand nature and experience of sex in prison

5. Commission on Sex in prison • Commissioners with wide ranging expertise • Evidence from expert witnesses • Seminars on sexual contact with partners in prison • Briefing papers on consensual and coercive sex • NOMS refused permission for primary research in prisons • Research: Interviews with former prisoners • Visits to other jurisdictions including Spain and Norway

6. Prison visits in england and wales • No private visits in England and Wales • NOMS have no plans to introduce private visits • POPS survey of partners of prisoners found that 88 per cent of partners wanted intimacy, not necessarily sex, during visits • Partners complained that security during visits was taken too far • Restrictions on physical contact • ‘The night club bouncer’ • Use of ROTL and HDC restricted

7. Prisons in norway • Prison population of 3,723 compared to 85,000 in England and Wales • No overcrowding. Very few prisoners share cells • Prison officers spend three years at university and one at a prison before qualifying • High staff to prisoner ratio • The re-integration guarantee –principle that all prisoners should have a job and a home on release • Third of prisoners are foreign nationals • Low re-offending rates but foreign nationals not included

8. ‘The most humane prison in the world’ Holds 260 prisoners 290 correctional officers work there Second largest prison in Norway Average length of sentence was 7 years 50 per cent of prisoners at Halden were foreign nationals Halden Prison, norway

9. Prison visits in Halden • Family regarded as an important resource in preventing re-offending • Most prisoners are allowed private visits • 2 hour private visit once a fortnight is the norm • Larger room for family visits • Prisoners, not children, searched for drugs • Extended 24 hour family visits in the family visits house • Closed visits only for prisoners with high risk of violence

10. Within the prison walls but separate from the main prison Prisoners must complete a parenting course in Norwegian before they are eligible to stay in the house Many foreign national prisoners not fluent in Norwegian so unable to complete parenting course and use visits house The Family Visits House

11. Families can spend 24 hours together Like a normal family home Family are visited regularly by prison staff to ensure their safety Available during the week and at weekends Children can still visit if parents are separated or estranged The Family visits house

12. Conclusions • Importance of normality, intimacy and privacy during visits • Importance of the family • Rights of the child to maintain contact with a parent in prison • Overcrowding and staff shortages in English and Welsh prisons impacting on prison visits • Will the Norwegian approach ever be possible here?

13. www.prisonersfamilies.org.uk @prisonerfamily