WUNRN
Human RIghts Watch
Consider for Older Women in Prison
in the United States
OLD BEHIND BARS - THE AGING PRISON
POPULATION IN THE US
Direct Link to Full Report:
January
28, 2012 - This report includes new data
Human Rights Watch developed from a variety of federal and state sources that
document dramatic increases in the number of older US prisoners.
Human Rights Watch visited nine
states and 20 prisons to interview prison officials, corrections and
gerontology experts, and prisoners. Human Rights Watch found officials
scrambling to respond to the needs and vulnerabilities of older prisoners. They
are constrained, however, by straitened budgets, prison architecture not
designed for common age-related disabilities, limited medical facilities and
staff, lack of planning, lack of support from elected officials, and the press
of day-to-day operations.
"Life in prison can challenge anyone, but it can be particularly hard for people whose bodies and minds are being whittled away by age. Prisons in the United States contain an ever growing number of aging men and women who cannot readily climb stairs, haul themselves to the top bunk, or walk long distances to meals or the pill line... whose old bones suffer from thin mattresses and winter's cold, who need wheelchairs, walkers, canes, portable oxygen, and hearing aids...who cannot get dressed, go to the bathroom or bathe without help...who are incontinent, forgetful, suffering chronic illnesses, extremely ill, and dying."
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