{"id":107560,"date":"2018-03-19T12:01:49","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T12:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=107560"},"modified":"2018-03-26T13:36:46","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T12:36:46","slug":"behind-bars-australias-shocking-cruelty-to-aboriginal-people-with-disabilities-in-their-own-words-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/03\/behind-bars-australias-shocking-cruelty-to-aboriginal-people-with-disabilities-in-their-own-words-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind Bars: Australia\u2019s Shocking Cruelty to Aboriginal People with Disabilities\u2014In Their Own Words (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The abuse of Aboriginal prisoners with disabilities in Australian jails is confronting, and ongoing. In Part 2, Michael Brull gives voice to the victims detailed in a report written by Human Rights Watch.<\/em> Click on the numbers to read each of the other stories in the series \u2013 <\/em>1<\/a>, 3<\/a>, 4<\/a>, 5<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

18 Feb 2018 – <\/em>In my first report<\/a> on Human Rights Watch\u2019s report on Aboriginal people with disabilities<\/a> in prison, I summarised some of the findings, particularly relating to abuse and bullying. In this article, I want to provide some of the testimonials provided in the report by those incarcerated. Warning: many of the reports are distressing. HRW protected the anonymity of all of those mentioned.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sexual abuse<\/h2>\n

\u201cI was going in to take a shower, and I saw three male prisoners. I sensed trouble and I started backing out. But one of them ran towards me\u2026. The other two held me down and they made me kiss his penis. I tried to run away. [Tried] to get help and shout out to the prison guards. But they were too far. I could not do anything because I would be labeled a \u2018dog\u2019 [traitor].<\/em><\/p>\n

When I finally managed to find someone to tell and the guards found out, they put me in the punishment unit. I was told it was for my safety. And there was nowhere else they could put me. And then the guards on call taunted me\u2026. All night I could not sleep\u2026. I could just hear the guards giggling outside. I had to wait for a couple of days before I was transferred to another prison. I am suffering from depression\u2026. I get no support.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Man with cognitive disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI got hit on sexually by officers quite regularly, even though I\u2019m old. Male predators work in that jail [a women\u2019s prison]next to young vulnerable girls. They catch you when you\u2019re working by yourself and touch your boobs, bum, or put a hand around your waist. Or they make stupid comments like, \u2018You\u2019ve been here a while, you must be horny.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Woman with psycho-social disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201c[I] was sexually assaulted\u2026. It happened in my room. He [the perpetrator]was my cellie. Afterwards, he told me to kill myself. So I cut myself.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Prisoner with a cognitive disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIt was a few guys\u2026. I know at least one of them raped me, but I kind of blacked out. I was bleeding, I still bleed sometimes. I reported it the same day to two of the superintendents, I filled out the medical request form. They told me if I report it, I would go to the DU [detention unit]for six months. So I ripped up the form in front of them\u2026. Then when I went back to the unit, I got bashed up by some of the guys. Not the ones who assaulted me\u2026. Someone came up behind me and stabbed me in the eye with a pen. They beat me up, stomped on me. Called me a dog [traitor]. \u201c<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Prisoner with a cognitive disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cif a woman is banging her head or smearing feces on the wall, five or six male staff will come in, hold her down to restrain her, strip her naked, and deprive her from using any bathing facilities. They do this even with women with [a]well-documented history of sexual assault. They justify it as a safety measure but there are times where it happens when it\u2019s not about safety. Officers get frustrated or annoyed with the person. But I don\u2019t think we should be retraumatizing people and a lot of the time we do.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Psychiatrist working in prisons<\/p>\n

\u00a0[A staff member will say] \u2018If you don\u2019t give me a hand job or whatever, I\u2019ll put you down for a loss of privileges [a prison charge resulting in loss of access to privileges], or will stop your visits.\u2019<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Social worker<\/p>\n

\u00a0Physical abuse<\/h2>\n

\u201cI got beaten up in the detention unit. I had played up the day before so they were trying to teach me a lesson. Four officers tackled me. The senior officer stood on my jaw while the other hit my head in and restrained me. They said, \u2018You don\u2019t run this prison little cunt, we do,\u2019 and they cut my clothes off. They left me naked on the floor of the exercise yard for a couple of hours<\/a> before giving me fresh clothes.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 A male prisoner with a psychosocial disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cTwo to three years ago, I got bashed by the officers but they got away with it.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Woman with a cognitive disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIf one of the girls is going through a psychotic episode, guards hold onto [a grudge]and as a result they are brutal. They would use fists, cuffs. They will lock her down for hours and hours and it can be 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit). No fan, no air conditioning, no water. They\u2019ll [officers]bruise them [the prisoner]. They will strike them. Some are just on a po<\/a>wer trip. They need to dominate.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 A social worker working in a women\u2019s prison told Human Rights Watch:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cFive officers came into my cell. They put me in the shower. They said \u2018Beat your head up the wall, or we\u2019ll do it for you.\u2019 I became dazed, didn\u2019t recognize or remember their faces. They took me to a medical room at night, with no medical staff. One said, \u2018I\u2019m going to hit you, be ready to block.\u2019 They blocked my face in the chest, [I] got hit in the ribs. [\u2026] He took me down the back [punishment unit]. I thought I would die and become another death in <\/a>custody. I\u2019ve never reported it.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 A man with a psychosocial disability<\/p>\n

Verbal, ableist and racist abuse<\/h2>\n

\u201c[An officer told me]: \u2018Why are you still living? It\u2019s time you die.\u2019 Officers are supposed to help us, not treat us like rubbish and run us down.\u201d <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Man with a psychosocial disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cOfficers make jokes about me [and my disability]:\u201d \u2018You\u2019re a lazy so-and-so.\u2019 Officers tell me, \u2018You\u2019re an asshole.\u2019 It makes me feel bad.\u201d <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Man with a disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201c\u2018Look at this idiot, look at this looper,\u2019 they [fellow prisoners]would say. It\u2019s quite demeaning to someone\u2019s mental health\u2026.. like wolves attacking an injured lamb.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Prisoner with a psychosocial disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIf you say something back to them [officers], they charge you with swearing. (\u2026). Some officers are racist: [they call us]\u2018black cunt,\u2019 \u2018sheep,\u2019 \u2018mother fucker\u2019 or \u2018pricks<\/a>.\u2019\u201d <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Aboriginal prisoner<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201c[Prisoners would] rather sit back and be sick rather than go see a nurse because the nurse would say \u2018Go away, you\u2019re exaggerating.\u2019 That happens quite a bit. They think they\u2019re drug seekers\u2026. We need more aboriginal staff [so prisoners feel comfortable seeking services]. [\u2026] Racism is alive and well\u2026 It manifests itself in stereotyping: aboriginal prisoners are all drug addicts, all involved in domestic violence, all are drug-seeking or untruthful. [\u2026] If they question the nurse saying they had an allergic reaction, she will say: \u2018You fucking black cunt, you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about. I\u2019m the nurse here. Sit down, shut up, and take your meds.\u2019 A lot of the nurses are very harsh with their comments, swearing, belittling them.\u201d<\/u><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Aboriginal cultural liaison officer<\/p>\n

\u00a0Bullying and harassment<\/h2>\n

\u201cOfficers try to bully us. They will ask us to clean the unit, even though it would have already been cleaned but they will make us do it again and again. Aboriginal prisoners get bullied more than others.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Aboriginal prisoner with a psychosocial disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201c[There are some] old school officers\u2026. They\u2019d do things like \u2018mark the doors\u2019 \u2013 the guys who were smart-asses or talked back. They would do dehumanizing things like strip them naked and leave them outside standing up.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014An Aboriginal prisoner<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cEver since I lost my leg, I [have]felt very vulnerable. [Other prisoners] want your smokes [cigarettes], and harass you for money. [They tell you]: \u2018I know you\u2019ve got smokes.\u2019 They watch you\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014Man with a physical disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThe officers don\u2019t know half of what is going on in here\u2026. I feel very vulnerable in here. I have had my [wheel]chair taken away from me by other prisoners [for not giving into their demands]\u201d <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Male prisoner with a physical disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cFour blokes were on me, trying to get my meds. It was pretty brutal. If you don\u2019t spit the med out, they will say, \u2018We know you can do it. Why aren\u2019t you getting it out for us?\u2019 And if you don\u2019t get it out next time, you have got to fight them. It can happen in the laundry or toilets, you can get three to four blokes on you at once and in just a couple of minutes, they\u2019ve bashed you. By the time t<\/a>he officers come, it\u2019s too late.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Man with a psychosocial disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got trouble, you don\u2019t go to officers [to]ask for help. That\u2019s the golden rule in jail. You get called a \u2018dog\u2019 [traitor]. You could get bashed.\u201d <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Male prisoner with a psychosocial disability<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI get bullied by some prisoners. They ask for smokes [cigarettes]but if I say, \u2018No,\u2019 they fight with me. I\u2019m an easy target because of mental illness. If we get caught fighting, they will tell the officer, \u2018She hit first because the voices told her.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014Aboriginal woman with a psychosocial disability<\/p>\n

___________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Michael Brull writes twice a week for<\/em> New Matilda. He has written for a range of other publications, including<\/em> Overland, Crikey, ABC\u2019s Drum, the<\/em> Guardian and elsewhere.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 newmatilda.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Part 2, Michael Brull gives voice to the victims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":106719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[224,56,139,242],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-rights","category-asia-pacific","category-justice","category-exposures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}