9 years ago
5
Menstruation Can Become Humiliation in Prisons
Female inmates are routinely denied tampons and pads.
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This is a bad quote to start off with. Is there a lack of supplies or are there just inadequate supplies? You can't really have a lack of something fly out of someone's pants.
The article is quite different from previous that I've read about female prisons. Usually it is stated that female prisons allow greater leniency in commodities that prisoners are allowed to have, that female prisoners are treated better by prison staff, and that pseudo-families usually spring up in female prisons.
Not that I believe that the article is an isolated case. There are bad prisons everywhere, but they do not usually reflect the general trend of prisons.
It is a bit of a confusing quote. I think the implication is that the pads are worn for so long that the adhesive stops working. Pads are not designed to be worn for very long. It's also possible that the supplies are substandard to begin with, which would make it even more likely that the adhesive would fail.
As for the general state of prisons, I'm sure it varies greatly, but I don't think the situation in the article is all that unlikely.
This is awful, as is the miniscule amount of money they receive.
Part of the punishment that comes with being a felon is reduced rights. If this angers you, perhaps you should read The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. While it focuses on the racial disparity of prison systems, it also focuses greatly on how being a felon severely reduces your standard of living. The theme is that minorities who are more likely to receive prison sentences are reduced to second class citizens legally due to their felon status.
I looked up the institution that the piece focuses on and found this on the ct.gov website:
Interesting.