Briefly summarized: Bredtveit women’s prison in Oslo must close due to poor fire safety, and several inmates will be moved to Ullersmo. Ullersmo is a men’s prison, and there are concerns about how the women will be protected against violence, harassment, sexual blackmail and abuse. It is a central principle in Norway that men and women should not spend time together, and it is crucial that the women are kept separate from the men. The move will be temporary, but it is unclear how long the women will stay at Ullersmo. There is criticism of the situation, and there is a demand that a new women’s prison be built near Oslo. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – Out of many bad solutions, this is the best, says regional director Stig Storvik of the Norwegian Correctional Service. This week it became known that they will move the inmates at Bredtveit women’s prison in Oslo to Ullersmo. The reason is that Bredtveit has to close due to poor fire safety. Ullersmo has almost 200 male employees. Now 20 women from Bredtveit will be moved there. – If it is at all justifiable to move twenty women into such a large men’s prison, there must be strict requirements for how it is done, says civil ombudsman Hanne Harlem. She emphasizes that she does not know how the move will be resolved in practical terms. – But I think there is reason to be worried, she says. The civil ombudsman has for a long time been concerned about the sentencing conditions for the women at Bredtveit. This spring they came up with a strongly critical report. – Must be shielded In Norway, it is a central principle that men and women should not sleep together. The main reason is to protect women from violence, harassment, sexual blackmail and abuse. Women in their own prisons The Norwegian Prison Service’s own rules state that men and women must, as far as possible, serve time separately. “The reason why women should serve time in their own prisons or wards is to reduce the risk of them being exposed to unwanted sexual attention, or being exposed to pressure to sell sexual services, exploitation, harassment and violence,” they themselves write on their website. Part of the background is also research and statistics that show that: Four out of ten convicted women have been subjected to sexual abuse as children Six out of ten women prisoners state that they have been subjected to rape as an adult Joint activities and meeting points between women and men can create insecurity, especially in situations with low staffing, believes the Correctional Service. If women are to be in the same prison as men, “the correctional service strives for it to take place in departments designed for women, separate from men.” Source: kriminalomsorgen.no Harlem points out that a large proportion of women serving time in high-security prisons have been exposed to abuse or sexual abuse. – They should be able to be shielded from being with male inmates, she says. It is absolutely crucial for the move, says Petter Rolf Lajord-Stilén, who heads the prison officers’ union at Bredtveit. – They must at least be protected. There should be no physical or visual contact between women and men, he says. Experienced harassment Once before, Bredtveit temporarily moved inmates to Ullersmo. In January, four women were moved to an isolation ward there. Several men sat in cells in the same corridor. According to civil ombudsman Harlem, several of the women were subjected to harassing comments from male inmates while they were there. – And something like that would be a completely unacceptable solution for the women who will be moved now, says Harlem. Hanne Harlem says she is worried before the move of female inmates to Ullersmo prison. Photo: The civil ombudsman Regional Director Storvik in the Correctional Service says the move in January happened urgently within a few days. – What we are going to do now can in no way be compared to the situation that was then. Own building He assures that they will keep the women separate from the men serving time at Ullersmo. The women’s prison must be run as a separate unit. With a full-fledged offer when it comes to, among other things, school, work operations and health, according to the director. – I will not advance how the solutions will be, but an important principle is that they must be separate, says Storvik. They will move into a separate building at Ullersmo, which was recently completely renovated. The building was used to house remand prisoners from Ila prison while their building in Bærum was renovated. Then, among other things, a separate air farm was created, explains Storvik. Director Stig Storvik in the Eastern Correctional Service says they are now trying to find good, practical solutions for Bredtveit prison. Photo: Stein ove Korneliussen/news The aim is to move the inmates and staff at Bredtveit to Ullersmo by 1 March. – A crisis The move must be temporary. But how long they will stay, no one knows. It is a crisis situation, believes Stian Estenstad in the Red Cross. – It is a political responsibility to get out of that crisis, he says. Estenstad fears that the Bredtveit women will be kept in a separate “enclave” in the men’s prison for an indefinite period of time. They cannot lose offers because they have to share prison with men, he emphasizes. Stian Estenstad in the Red Cross believes it is a crisis situation that the Bredtveit women are being moved to Ullersmo for an indefinite period. Photo: Nadir Mohammad Alam / news He is supported by civil ombudsman Hanne Harlem. Arrangements must be made so that the women can have community together, without men, she is concerned about. – And arrangements must be made for them to have a day service and activities, i.e. work, training opportunities and the like. And that it is possible to do that without being with men, she says. – The government must take action The female inmates can remain at Ullersmo until it is clarified what happens to Bredtveit. – We don’t know that at the moment, and it is in a way a political decision, says Stian Storvik in the Correctional Service. He hopes there will be a clarification soon. The employees also hope so: – Placing women in a men’s prison must be temporary. So then there is perhaps a hope that some location or construction of a new women’s prison in Greater Oslo will be started, says union leader Lajord-Stilén. Stian Estenstad in the Red Cross asks the Minister of Justice to come to the scene. – Now they have to build a large, new women’s prison near Oslo. I really hope that the government takes action and quickly decides where and when the prison will be built.
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Strong reactions to the transfer of women to men’s prisons: – A crisis situation
