1st Edition
Women, Incarceration, and Human Rights Violations Feminist Criminology and Corrections
A rich examination of the neglect and abuses occurring to women in correctional facilities, Women, Incarceration, and Human Rights Violations draws upon a wealth of case studies from around the world and class action lawsuits to shed light on ’covert’ abuse such as sexual or physical abuse, as well as ’overt’ abuse such as the denial of medical treatment. Adopting a feminist framework, this book offers a comparative evaluation of abuse in domestic and international correctional facilities, demonstrating the extent to which women are at high risk of being sexually abused and re-victimized in the correctional system, where pregnancy and other specific medical and health issues are consistently ignored. Calling attention to the necessity of addressing the gender-specific needs of women who are incarcerated, Women, Incarceration, and Human Rights Violations offers a review of current policy, laws, and regulation bearing on the issue, while providing concrete recommendations and policy changes to address abuses. As such it will appeal to sociologists, criminologists, and policymakers concerned with questions of gender, penology, and institutional abuse.
Biography
Alana Van Gundy is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Criminal Justice Programme at Miami University, USA. Amy Baumann-Grau is Norris Johnson Teaching Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cincinnati, USA.
’Women, Incarceration, and Human Rights is a must-read for those who care about the imprisonment of women. Using extensive case studies, Alana Van Gundy and Amy Baumann-Grau have grounded their work squarely in the international human rights arena. They make the disturbing abuse, neglect and exploitation of women prisoners around the globe both tangible and real.’ Susan F. Sharp, University of Oklahoma, USA 'Women, Incarceration, and Human Rights would function as a great supplemental text to any corrections course; chapters could also be helpful in any advanced criminological theory course. Van Gundy and Baumann-Grau's use of case studies enables readers to not only grasp the larger idea of feminist theory but also ground them in the greater global concept of human rights. The content is often unsettling, and disconcerting, but the text is very readable and engaging as well.' International Criminal Justice Review ’Drawing on wide-ranging evidence to illustrate both the abuse of women and lack of attention to their gender-specific needs in USA prisons, the authors utilise United Nations Human Rights Treaties and Conventions to emphasise precisely how far there is still to go to ensure appropriate response. This is a challenging and important book!’ Loraine Gelsthorpe, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, UK
