One
of WISH’s main roles is campaigning for the rights of women who are (or who
have been) detained in secure psychiatric services or prisons. Below is a
summary of some of the charity’s lobbying work.
WISH
is currently campaigning:
·
For secure psychiatric hospitals and the psychiatric units of prisons to
be safer places for women to be detained. This involves raising awareness of
action that can be taken to prevent women being subjected to rape, sexual
assault or harassment within psychiatric services.
·
For a dramatic increase in the range of support services available to
women who are leaving secure psychiatric services.
·
To influence the content of the Code
of Practice, (the document which will recommend how the
new Mental Health Act
should be put into practice). WISH is pressing for women’s needs to be
recognised in all aspects of the new Act. WISH wants mental health legislation
that is sensitive to women’s needs and which seeks to address them.
·
For
women to have access to mental health services that are single sex (i.e. women
only); aware of gender issues; sensitive to women’s needs; and which restrict
the freedom of women as little as possible.
·
To ensure that the government’s strategy
“Women’s
Mental Health: Into the Mainstream”
is implemented nationally. Within WISH this is being done through the PIPKOT
Project
·
To reduce the poverty of women detained in forensic mental health
services; to decrease women patients’ dependency on state benefits and to
address women’s lack of pension rights.
·
To ensure that secure psychiatric services and prison services recognise
the diversity of women and consequently the diversity of women’s needs. WISH
wants these services to take action to meet the wide range of needs that women
of different backgrounds have, including their physical, medical, cultural,
spiritual and emotional needs.
·
To expose the inequalities experienced by women within secure psychiatric
services and the prison system. As well drawing attention to such inequalities
WISH is also taking positive action to address these issues through awareness
raising and training.
·
For a broader range of therapeutic non-drug treatments to be available to
women detained in prison and secure psychiatric services.
·
To highlight the experiences of women detained in secure psychiatric
services. One way in which WISH does this is by encouraging women to speak out
about their lives, their experiences and their recovery.
·
For
improvements to Mental Health services within women’s prisons.