Minister of Justice and Emergency Preparedness Emilie Enger Mehl takes the situation of women serving time in prison very seriously – especially at Bredtveit. Now she is announcing measures.
– There have been too bad prison conditions for women at Bredtveit for many years. The suicide almost two weeks ago comes on top of years of low staffing and poor building conditions, says Mehl in a press release on Thursday.
She refers to the incident earlier this month, when another woman in her 30s took her own life in Bredtveit prison.
VG has previously discussed the situation in the prison, where the number of suicide attempts and episodes of self-harm is far higher than other prisons in the country.
Introduces immediate measures
Mehl has now asked the Directorate of Correctional Services (KDI) to take urgent measures to improve conditions.
She announces the following measures:
- Increase staffing at Bredtveit by redeploying personnel from other prisons.
- Reduce the number of inmates at Bredtveit.
- Skien prison is being converted into a women’s prison in order to improve the prison conditions for women in general, and to end joint prison terms with men.
- The women in ward Zulu at Ullersmo will be moved to other prisons from Monday.
Worse terms of service than men
Together with KDI, the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness will assess several measures in the longer term. Mehl points out that the Civil Ombudsman has for a long time pointed out that women have worse prison terms than men.
– We have to consider what future Bredtveit women’s prison should have. Conditions at Bredtveit are not good enough, and have not been for many years. The government was in dialogue with Oslo municipality about a new prison at Bredtveit, but this was not desirable locally. Therefore, we have to consider other possibilities, says Mehl in the press release.
She emphasizes that there is an urgent need for more prison staff to look after inmates and ensure better working conditions.
– KDI is now working on reallocating staff from other prisons. This may have consequences for the sentencing conditions for men, but we have to accept that when the situation is so serious, says Mehl.
Also read: Death behind the walls
