Summary and Critical Reflection of a Talk - Essay Example

This makes the people supporting convicted mothers’ right to live with their children in prison raise questions about equality rights and if the government and law really cares about the natural rights of guilty women at all. The desire to keep a child close to look after him/her is a natural right of a parent regardless of his/her criminal background. This approach forms the bedrock of the female lawyer in the audio link who interestingly contemplates the validity of rights of imprisoned women to keep their children close.

She establishes herself as an enthusiastic supporter of imprisoned women’s rights believing many of them are really confronted with unfortunate challenges. The lawyer who is also a shrewd women’s rights activist calmly asks that in absence of a good rehabilitation program, where is an unfortunate child supposed to go? The presence of a father or a guardian is one option, but what happens to a large population of children who in the absence of a thoughtful child protection group have nowhere to go when not allowed by the state to stay with their unfortunate mothers?

It is stressed by her that in many instances, a mother despite her felonious record is fit to handle the chores of a regular mother but she is still denied the right to hold custody of her child. This rejection is only made emphatic by the fact that she is incarcerated, has committed some crime in the past, violated the law, and lost all reputation. However, it should be pondered here by opponents of “children inside prison” ideology as suggested by the lawyer that does any of these factors really make the desire of an imprisoned woman to live with her children any less overwhelming?

Does the ministry’s decision to take children away from their guilty mother to help them grow up in a nontoxic atmosphere also snatch this will of the mother to see her children on routine basis? Such concerns are open to multiple interpretations as claimed by the lawyer and implementing decision based on analysis of only one side of the picture is not a smart talent strategy. When there is not enough evidence suggesting a mother is physically, mentally, or behaviorally capable of looking after her child, creating barriers between mother and child is empty mockery of natural human rights.

It is claimed by the highly concerned lawyer speaking for all incarcerated mothers that the importance of creating more mother and baby units in jails where cannot be stressed enough. It should be safely assumed by governments everywhere that the best place of all for a child to stay is with his/her parent provided the parent is not disadvantaged mentally. The issue of imprisoned women’s rights picked up momentum and made headlines in Vancouver, Canada when the provincial program got cancelled in 2008 which allowed babies to stay with their mothers.

It is claimed in one report that this negative step taken by the law enforcement agencies and state not only negatively interfered with the infant’s right to a mother’s care, but also raised valid questions about discrimination against female prisoners and inequality of rights. It is compellingly stated by Peter Hough that “the lives of far more people in today’s world are imperiled by human rights abuses than by terrorist or conventional military attacks” (cited in Darian-Smith, 2013, p. 257). The report further reveals the