11 Facts About Women in Prison

[itscindergirl]

Your right about going in on rec you are out till the time is over just another control thing what can it hurt to be allowed a john out on the grounds guess that would be to much like home ha!! Lots of things I don't understand about being treated human when in prison but we are paying in so many ways already just a little decency is not to much to ask i think. And by the way I hope i have not offended any one in here about this debate which is what i thought it was (not an argument) so is so please excet my appology and I hope the co comes back and realizes we mean no harm only venting some more than otheres but hey thats what its all about saying what we feel and getting suppot some we may not like the answers but it's never meant to hurt I don't think. Anyway I do appologize to all if any hurt feelings are out there

[dlyles]

I thought your opinions were extremely fair. You spoke as an ex-inmate, but still understood the plight of the CO. I don't think there's any reason for anyone here to be offended.

[itscindergirl]

thanks nice to know you got it at least. I would never do anything to offend anyone here we all have our problems to deal with and we get alittle testy i think about some things more than others. Like i said they are people to and we are all here to learn and hear so taking things with a grain of salt is the only way no two people think alike and listening to otheres sometimes helps you see the other side even when we don't want to. So thank you all of you have been nothing but supportive and I have always only tried to speak on things I have knowledge of or care about. God bless all of us we need it through this period of our lives

[FrozenInMinn]

Hi all, just a quick note cause i am very interested in whats going on. I have a brother incarcerated in Max custody in Minn and a very good friend in Florida womens facility.

This is my own opinion so please take it with a grain of salt if you don't agree with it. This is from what they have told me and from my experince of being a inmate myself for 6 years.

1) I do think women in correctional facilities are more likely to be taken advantage of, as one other poster said, they are more vulnerable, In my opinion they are more emotional then men. My friend says that some individual females have consensual sex with male guards, So yes it does happen, but its not everyone AND... She also said a lot of them are forced into the situation, and under duress <---- Don't know if i spelled that right.

2) She also said that there are fights and writes to me everyday and explains what goes on, she just leaves out names, but when i was in and from my brother telling me what is going on i still believe that while women may be a little more violent, men by far are violent more often and get into fights more often. I don't think it matters what color any inmate is. We are all HUMAN.

I respect eveyones opinion's here, and having a CO on here isn't a bad thing, I just hope that anakin keeps his posts supportive and informational. This is a support site... And we in here, in this forum, have wives, girlfriends, Significant others, inside and it is hard for us to deal with as well and so people need to know what we as well are going through and be sentimental towards us.

We all need to take each and every post with a grain of salt... So please, lets keep our posts informative and supportive...

[Anakin]

No...at my prison the male officers don not watch the inmates taking a shower.

The stalls have curtains from top to bottom. The officers have a direct line of sight to the stalls but alas the curtains block the view.

The inmates take advantage of this and often we catch them "doubling up" with their girlfriends in the shower.

We also let them have "curtains" to block the windows of their cells while they used the toilet but so many were abusing it (blocking the window while doing other "things") that we had to take away the curtains.

Now they have to have their cellmates stand at the door and tell any C/o the other one is on the pot or they tack up a little note in the window.

The idea that most C/o's are depraved, sexually frustrated individuals who spend their day at work gawking at the women is unfounded.

I am sure there have been those types at the prison but they do not make up the majority.

To be honest what I see here at PTO is a lot of insecurity in some ways...men who have women in prison feel threatened by the presence of male officers in their loved one's facility. Women who have a man inside feel threatened by the female C/o. I have read thread after thread where a man complains about male officers hitting on their woman or a female officer hitting on their man.

I think that sort of activity is a lot more rare than you think.

[titantoo]

Glad to hear it and thanks for the feedback!

[Anakin]

Originally Posted by cindergirl

Although i know we are offenders and we will try to get away with whatever we can "be it stealing cheese from the cafateria to bleach from the laundry" it's survival to them....

It's survival? I thought it was theft of state property. So what you are saying is that stealing little things is ok.

So if I go to prison for larceny and I spend my time in priosn stealing "little things" then when I get out I am rehabilitated?

When I was 8 years old I stole a candy bar from my grandparent's convenience store. Hey, it was a little thing and it was my family's store. Was it wrong?

I felt so bad about it that I went bawling to my dad...who promptly punished me.

I don't steal anymore.

The truth is that inmates do things that require punishment (i.e. misconducts/tickets). The officer has to be the one who writes the misconducts because the majority of the staff members refuse to be the disciplinarian.

[Grace1]

anakin- I have stuck up for your opinions and your bluntness because That is what I believe in. But after reading your last couple of posts I have come to the conclusion you want to be viewed as an ass. Congradulations, you have succeeded. Have a ball.

[Anakin]

One more though on the rape/sex thing: I have an inmate I am involved with yet we have absolutely no physical contact.

If I was so frustrated and driven to sex don't you think I would be having sex with her since it is available to me?

The possibility of being charged with rape is enough of a deterrent for most people.

[Anakin]

Grace1...it is simple fact.

They made the statement that stealing cheese from the cafeteria was "survival" to the inmate.

Do you really believe that? You dfo realize that we feed the inmates three square meals a day?

If I sound like an ass...then I am sorry you feel that way. The inmates accuse me of talking sideways too and getting "slick".

[Grace1]

have you ever been an inmate? Have you ever been on the other side?

[Anakin]

Please don't try and play that copout. What you are saying is that if I had ever been an inmate I would understand how it is "survival" in their view.

It is theft. Please tell me how stealing cheese from the cafeteria is survival.

[Grace1]

I don't know, I have never been there. I have never operated on anyone but work for a Doctor. Still doesn't mean I know what its like to be a Doctor, wouldn't pretend that I know more than he does standing in his shoes either.

[Retired-10]

I don't think name calling is necessary... Please respect everyones views!

[Anakin]

Let me clarify.

Inmates steal cheese so they can add it to the beef they stole earlier and the chips they bought from the canteen (at least they bought those) and make nachos.

Yup you got to have nachos to survive in prison.

they steal the laundry detergent so they can wash their clothes in their cell because they don't like using the institutional laundry.

I'm not trying to be flippant...but you have to look at why they do what they do. Just because your loved one says it is a matter of survival doesn't make it so.

[FrozenInMinn]

Thank you MLG78, Lets please get back on the topic at hand and refrain from name calling.

Anakin, It is hard for me to grasp a lot of what you are saying because i have never been in your shoes. I have never been a Correctional Officer. I never will be, so i take what you write as information from a new perspective. Remember everyone percieves what you write a little differently. I can't respond to a lot of what you are saying becuase i have never been in your shoes,..... Just as you have never walked in my shoes. I was an inmate for 6 years. I stole Cheese, and meat, among other things. And yes it is wrong, but to some it is surviving or "living" as the inmate population calls it. You may serve 3 meals a day, but you and I both probably know what the meals are like. Never have i seen a place put carrot shavings and other vegtables in Jello just to give it the nutricianal value they need to call it a "Square Meal" With prison wages so low, and cost of commissary so high, inmates do what they feel they need to do in order to "Live" and yes some call it survival. Yes it is wrong, yes it is against rules and regulations, and what a lot of people believe in. But it happens.
Please take a look at what you are writing in your posts. Think about who is going to read that post or thread, and be a little damn sympathetic. There are a lot of good people here who are going through a tough time and need to vent a little. Many of them do not know about the DOC and need information. You would be a great asset to this site but please also realize how hurtful some of the things that you are saying actually are and how they would be taken.

Thank you


Peter

[Anakin]

Well I am sorry but I do not nor can I ever view it as survival.

Saying that it is...is ridiculous.

[Retired-18]

Me and my big mouth. Anakin, I understand what you mean about the insecurities of some of our members, unfortunately this is true, but it is by far not all of our members. I read your profile and you do indeed have someone in the system. I also understand that you have a job to do. I won't presume to know how you feel about that job, but I am curious. Why would you want to be a corrections officer? I ask because I am curious. In my state many prisons are located in economically depressed and remote areas and it is the only work available. My loved one, though a man, has never had a problem with a CO and I have found most of them to be pretty decent individuals. You have a loved one inside, so surely you have an idea of what we deal with, how has that affected how you look at what you do? Just curious.

[Anakin]

My girl is a model inmate. she never gets in trouble and she obeys the rules. I respect her for that.

Also, I don't look down upon her because she is in prison. She is in for simple possession of CDS. I think people like this are just taking up bedspace that would be better off housing a violent offender.

I also don't lump her in with thos ewho spend their time doing the same old things that got them put in prison to begin with.

Now...this will offend some here but here it is....some of the loved ones (and I did say SOME) of posters here are people who are not doing the right thing. They are conmen, hustlers, and predators. The things they tell their loved ones (the pto member) isn't necessarily true. Therefore what some here are taking as the divine gospel is just a load of crap. You may not like hearing this but it is the truth. Remmeber I did say SOME and I am not branding everyone's loved on as a loser just because they are in prison.

I have met murderers who were model inmates and therefore I treated them with respect. The people in prison who cry and demand respect the most are the last persons who will GIVE respect...yet they demand it.

I chose being a C/o because it pays well and no I do not live in an a economically depressed area.

[Retired-18]

Anakin I was merely making a statement about prison locations where I am, and CO's here do not earn good money. I believe they make about $8.00 hourly starting, so please do not be offended. I appreciate your honesty in response to my questions and I agree with many things you did say. Respect by and of anyone in my opinion is something to be earned and not demanded.

[Anakin]

I make about $14 an hour...not great but I live comfortably.

[27sbb]

WOW!!! Things are surely charged here. I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to Anakin for sharing your pov. My experience has taught me to judge each person as an individual. Not all C/O's are evil nor are all IM's angels.

[mrsdragoness]

Let ME state that the TOPIC of this thread is a quote about some facts about women in prison. PLEASE keep the thread ON topic from this point on or it will be closed.

This topic can be an excellent discussion IF its kept ON TOPIC.

If you take issue with something someone says - take it to private messaging.

I will NOT come back a second time with another warning.

mrsdragon
PTO Moderator

[poni'swoman]

Originally Posted by Anakin

When did I ever say anything about rape?

What have I said that hurts the sensitivity of the posters here?

as for the comment above about how hard it must be for the staff to handle inmate's rejection of abuse, rape et al...I don't see forum leaders criticising such a blatantly false statement as this.

You obviously don't mind if a poster says something as ludicrous as that, huh?

So if I had come in and said "women in prison are systematically abused by prison guards and staff and are subjected to humiliation and degradation" then you'd smile, clap your hands and say "bravo" huh?

Well let me fill you in since you folks have never been in a women's prison.

1. The vast majority of "rapes" in a women's prison is a consensual contact between a staff member and a female offender. It is defined by law as rape because of the power-dependant relationship involved. This form of "rape" is not the same as forcing someone to have sex with you. If a female offender seduces a male staff member (happens all the time) then it is rape...on his part. Who's at fault? It takes two to tango.

2. Female offenders brutalize each other more than any staff member does.

3. What is psychological degradation? Me telling an inmate sharply that I could care less what she thinks and that her opinion doesn't matter? Ok...I'm guilty. Inmate's don't have the right to express their opinions in prison...it's not a democracy. Female offenders are the worst about talking back and mouthing off.

You can paint whatever picture you want but the truth is that I have expressed fact in my earlier post. "Her True One" took it personal and made an attack on me. Then ther forum leader chimed in and sided with the others because I'm not "sensitive" to their feelings.

Fact is fact...if you want to make it personal because you can't accept that your "facts" are getting contradicted then so be it.

I have said what I came to say I won't discuss anything further in this thread for fear that the "sensitive" posters might get their feelings hurt.

I thought you were done!!!!!

[Anakin]

I changed my mind.