Police Inhuman Treatment of Female Offenders - Essay Example

Case Study ‘Police strip code alarm’ by the ‘The Advertiser’ in the national news has indeed been one of the most horrific truth about the police’ inhuman treatment of female offenders. The recent news item highlighting the fact that ‘MALE police are stripping distressed female prisoners, who are then put in cells under CCTV, a practice being questioned by the independent police complaints body…It has only come to light after a mother of three complained about being stripped by up to four male officers and put into a padded cell at Christies Beach police station. She believes her complaint would have been "swept under the carpet" if not for a letter on her behalf from former Supreme Court judge Ted Mullighan’ (news.com.au). The news primarily deals with the complaint of one ‘Lee’ (name changed) who was picked up by the police when she had failed to attend a court hearing on a minor theft from a shop in the 1990s. It had taken the court proceedings and police more than 13 years to pick her up from the same address where she had been residing since the time she had committed the offence. She was stripped naked by four male police and put in the padded cell for about an hour before letting her join the rest of the jail inmates. As a child, Lee was sexually abused in a foster home and gave evidence to the same in the Mullighan enquiry. She is a mother of three children and for her, this incident ‘was like being raped all over again…I can't put words to what they have done to me, it's just inhumane’. She had lodged complaint to the complaints authority in 2006, the verdict of which is still awaited. Judge Mullighan has said that despite her traumatic childhood experience, Lee has largely kept herself out of any trouble and has brought up her children alone. Since her complaint, more people have come out in her support, who themselves had undergone same humiliation in the Christie beach police station. In a letter to Police Commissioner Mal Hyde, obtained by The Advertiser, the Police Complaints Authority says it has "long-standing disquiet" over the practice, which has been labelled "violent and disturbing" by civil libertarians. The complaints authority investigator, Helen Lines has been concerned about the practice that violates personal dignity of the persons and ‘would focus on the practice of using padded cells to confine distressed prisoners to prevent them from harming themselves with their clothing’. George Mancini of SA Council of Civil Liberties has also been shocked at the ‘humiliating and violent’ practice and says that the distressed prisoners need to be handled with more sensitivity and care. The correspondent’s further investigation has revealed that two other teenaged girls were also subjected to the same treatment at the Christie Beach but were too afraid to lodge any complaint against the police! The girls had been seriously traumatised and need continuously counselling. Critique The case of Lee is not only traumatic for an individual but the long term socio-psychological implications are more dangerous to the self esteem of the person. While the practice was prevalent in the 19th century in the mental asylum, the same cannot be said true for the prisoners in the contemporary times of hi-tech surveillance. Lee was kept in the padded cell for about an hour which really raises the questions of police’ claim of prisoners harming themselves with their clothes! Male police stripping women prisoners is pervert practice and violation of human rights. Universal Declaration of Human Rights has defined human rights as ‘… the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’ (www.udhr.org). Social protection is important consideration while disbursing justice in a criminal procedure. Punishing the criminal is important for the society because it ensures safer environment for them to live. It is also important that judicious but compassionate approach is adapted so that confinement of prisoners never becomes a contentious issue. But stripping the prisoners naked and putting them in padded cell under CCTV is gross violation of human dignity and perverted acts of police that must be stopped immediately. In the modern times and in the civilized society, such practice is neither considered to be morally right or just because it would bring one’s action at par with that of criminal. These acts can be construed as demented mentality of men which is used to suppress self esteem of women. Lee’s case has exposed the extremely contentious practice of the police and their discriminate behavior. It has also posed very serious questions of the relevance of the fundamental rights of the citizens who can be subjected to inhuman treatment at the whim of the authority who are supposed to be their protector. Indeed, the human rights violation and harassment, in the name of justice has provoked a wide spread feeling of outrage and national shame. The practice must be discontinued. Effective deterrent measures and reforms urgently need to be introduced in the law so that further violations of human rights can be avoided. Interview with a mother of a teenaged daughter Q. Do you think that the police are right to strip the women prisoners and put them in padded cell under CCTV because they think the prisoners may be mentally unstable and harm themselves even with clothes they are wearing? Mother: No, the police have no right to strip naked any prisoners even if they might be deemed mentally unstable. Q. Then how should they deal with them? Mother: If the offender is mentally unstable, doctors should be provided and they should be taken to the asylum. Q. What do you think of Lee’s case? Mother: Lee’s case is a gross violation of human rights. Despite having a traumatic childhood, she had largely brought her three children alone, how can she be mentally unstable? The police misused their authority and it was a deliberate act of perversion. Q. Should those male police officials be punished or the practice of such acts be banned by law? Mother: The act should have been discontinued ages back! The four police officials should also undergo severe punished as it would serve as the most effective deterrent measure. Reference Police strip code alarm. Available from: [Accessed 16 August, 2009]. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (6 December 2008). Available from: [Accessed 16 August, 2009]. Read More