Trend of Indigenous Womens Fastest Growing Demographic Status in Australia - Literature review Example

Intersections of disadvantage which might contribute to the trend of Indigenous women’s fastest growing demographic status within the current prison population in Australia Most recent report by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (ATSISJC) reveals that the number of indigenous women in custody is growing fast among prison population. The report further suggests that there are complex causes for the increase and the numbers vary from one jurisdiction to another (ATSISJC, 2008). On the sidelines, the NSW Select Committee has suggested that the increase could be due to the fact that there has been a corresponding increase in the remand population, changes in judicial attitudes and increases in police activity (ATSISJC, 2002). It is noteworthy that there has been a 10 percent increase in the rate of Indigenous women's imprisonment across Australia until June 2009 from year 2006. Of this the Northern Territory had the maximum increase while the increase in Queensland was not that much significant. Weatherburn, Snowball and Hunter (2006) have indicated that at some point 3 percent of Indigenous women aged 15 years have been imprisoned. ABS data (2009a) has indicated that imprisonment rates can be affected by the age profiles of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous population. Criminal justice system of Australia is said to be massively overrepresenting Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people. In order to discuss what contributes to the trend, it is important to have a recap of the data pertaining to Indigenous population that is in the prisons. In the year 2008 the overall percentage of Indigenous prisoners in Australia was 28 percent. That was year 2008. In 2010 percentage of all incarcerated women in Australia was 30 and that of men was 24 percent. There were 48 percent of juveniles in custody hailing from the Indigenous community. From 2000 to 2010 a 58.6 percent increase in imprisonment rates was recorded for Indigenous women, which was far higher than non-Indigenous women (22.4 percent). Seen from an overall perspective percentage by which Indigenous women were put behind bars in the given decade was 60. The statistics seem to be getting worse every year so much so that it has received terse remarks from men in official and unofficial capacity. Shane Phillips, from the Tribal Warrior Association, recently termed this state of affairs as "an emergency" and said that "no more experiments can be afforded in this direction". In 2011, principal legal officer, Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, Mark O'Reilly remarked on Alice Springs Prison as "far beyond capacity that it's refusing to take prisoners". This can further be understood by analysing the table below: According to this chart 17 percent of the prison population is represented by Indigenous people but in Northern Territory and Western Australia this population rises to 84 and 43 percent respectively. Otherwise, as can be seen in the table, other states do not have more than 5 percent of their population, except in Northern territory where their percentage is 31.6 percent. From 1989 onwards till date their imprisonment rate has increased by 12 times faster than non-Indigenous people. As an Indigenous adult one is 14 time more likely to end up in a jail. The most alarming figure is that in Western Australia juveniles are 48 times more likely to end up in prison as against their white peers (CreativeSpirits.com, nd). Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has stated that imprisonment rates for Indigenous Australians between 2002 and 2012 have increased to 1,914 from 1,262 prisoner per 100,000 adult Indigenous population. In comparison, the rate increased from 123 to 129 per 100,000 for non-Indigenous prisoners among adult non-Indigenous population. Australian National Council on Drugs' Executive Director, Gino Vumbaca has remarked that it gets worse every year. Perth-based Human Rights Alliance's Gerry Georgatos has expressed the alarm pertaining to the issue by comparing it with South Africa's Apartheid and remarked that in his state it was 9 times than that of apartheid. Chairman of the federal inquiry into the over-representation of Indigenous young people in the criminal justice system, Bob Debus, remark comes as another shocker on imprisonment of Indigenous people. He has said: "What you cannot get away from is that the rate of Indigenous imprisonment in Western Australia is far greater than anywhere else in the country and indeed it compares with the worst rates of imprisonment, of African Americans in the United States". Contributing to the trend, says Perth based prison reform advocate and restorative justice specialist and academic, Dr Brian Steels could be police's "frontier mentality" or racism. That is on one hand. On the other, the place has high reoffending rates. These include substance and alcohol abuse, high unemployment rates, child abuse, low educational levels and lack of services which are considered essential for non-Indigenous people. For example in Western Australia 64 percent of Indigenous women are reoffenders. As many as three-quarters of Indigenous prisoners, according to the ABS figures, had previously served imprisonment. This figure is far more than non-Indigenous prisoners, which was just 48 percent. Many societal intersections are responsible for this trend and to understand the same it is imperative to understand the Indigenous history for the same. It is a complex interplay of a number of factors that work together and contribute to high rate of Indigenous adults, particularly women being sent to imprisonment. Some of the factors which can be outlined include what is termed as stolen generations, disconnection from land, police behaviour, offence criminalisation, people's attitude, lack of language skills, foetal alcohol syndrome; family breakdown, lack of accommodation, inflexible funding, reoffending and social and economic situation. Chairman of the Prisoners Review Board, Justice Valerie French has remarked that on every family prisons exert a ripple effect. This is more applicable of one who is in the prison has in some or the other form been supporting the family. It has been seen that when Indigenous people are not able to be on their ancestral lands, they are more likely to experience events that make them clash with law. Conflicts are widespread in their case. On top of it, police behaviour could be racist, inappropriate or even violent. That is what falls beyond the control of Indigenous people. However, it has been observed that certain things are inherent to them. One of them being the habit of swearing or indulging in behaviour that is offensive. Studies have revealed that they are 15 times more likely to indulge in such behaviour than non-Indigenous people. Language also poses a barrier to them since some of them are not fully conversant with English language, which is the language used in court proceedings. That apart, there are 'crimes of need', which are precipitated by their abject poverty and lack of proper homes and hearths in remote and rural areas. This is compounded by their unemployment. With regard to indigenous women in prison double disadvantage has been recognised by literature. One is age and another gender (Baldry & McCausland, 2009; Behrendt, Cunneen & Liebesman, 2009; Brooks 1996; Burchfield & Braybrook, 2009; Corbett & Paxman 1995; Gardiner & Takagaki 2002). Some more scholars have argued that these women face intersectional discrimination. This is because it is generally presumed that their needs, which are actually designed for men, have been met in their case as well. Or they have been met through non-culturally services specific to women (Behrendt, Cunneen and Liebesman (2009). Fingers have also been pointed out at law which treats men and women differently. The law, suggests Brooks (1996) has to recognise position of women in society is that of socially and economically oppressed class. Until that recognition takes place, adds Brooks, law will keep treating them in a manner that is unjust and unequal. ATSISJC (2002) has hinted that offending behaviour is linked to economic disadvantage and social marginalisation damage to culture and identity, grief and trauma and also non-economic deprivation. Intersections of disadvantage which might contribute to this trend are explained in context of disruption to family life, Indigenous women's pregnancies, provision of health care, dislocation from community, disruption to cultural responsibilities and housing issues. Another contributory factor is the post-prison life of Indigenous women. They find it difficult to get employed after they are released from prison. Even as there are some programs being run, but by and large these women generally remain severely disadvantaged. Primarily what comes in their way is the criminal record they just left behind. It dogs them permanently. Though some jurisdictional difference in this context has been mentioned by some researchers, Stubbs and Tolmie (2008) are of the opinion that data pertaining to this does not provide any substantial breakdown. To back their claims they worked on collecting information on Indigenous women who had killed their partners indulging in widespread abuse to them. Stubbs and Tolmie realized bad family circumstances and having abusive husbands were not usually read in the correct context, but in context of these women having "personal deficits" even though that was never the case. Even in their own communities, these women were either regarded as either dominated by men or subordinate to them. They formed typical cases of battered women ending up in prisons more on account of a disadvantage than real crime. References Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (ATSISJC) 2008. Social justice report 2008. Sydney: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (ATSISJC) 2002. Social justice report 2002. Sydney: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2009a. Corrective services Australia. cat. no. 4512.0. June. Canberra. Baldry E & McCausland R 2009. Mother seeking safe home: Aboriginal women post-release. Current Issues in Criminal Justice 21: 288–301. Burchfield S & Braybrook A 2009. Improving law and justice outcomes for Indigenous women and children. Indigenous Law Bulletin 7:12, 6–9. Behrendt L, Cunneen C & Liebesman T 2009. Indigenous legal relations in Australia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Brooks M 1996. The incarceration of Aboriginal women, in Bird G, Martin G & Nielsen J (eds), Majah: Indigenous peoples and the law. Sydney: Federation Press: 266–280. Corbett H & Paxman M 1995. Aboriginal women and the law, in Women & Imprisonment Group (ed), Women & imprisonment. Melbourne: Fitzroy Legal Service: 29–35. CreativeSpirits.info, (nd). Aboriginal prison rates. Available http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/law/aboriginal-prison-rates. Accessed September 20, 2013. Gardiner G & Takagaki T 2002. Indigenous women and the police in Victoria: Patterns of offending and victimisation in the 1990s. Current Issues in Criminal Justice 13: 301–321. Stubbs J & Tolmie J 2008. Battered women charged with homicide: Advancing the interests of Indigenous women. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology 41: 138–161. Weatherburn D, Snowball L & Hunter B 2006. The economic and social factors underpinning Indigenous contact with the justice system: Results from the 2002 NATSISS survey. Crime and Justice Bulletin no. 104. Sydney: Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. Read More