News item | 5/31/2023 | 1:00 pm
Minister for Legal Protection Franc Weerwind and the Judicial Institutions Agency (DJI) are taking measures to combat transgressive behavior in women’s prisons. The Justice and Security Inspectorate started an investigation into the culture in Penitentiary Institution (PI) Nieuwersluis after a former employee was arrested in June last year for sexually transgressive behaviour. According to the Inspectorate, there is a culture within PI Nieuwersluis that makes it possible for penitentiary staff to exhibit transgressive behaviour. Weerwind sent the Inspectorate report and its response to the House of Representatives today.
Weerwind: “The report touched me. I am deeply touched by the findings and firm conclusions of the Inspectorate. Detainees are entrusted to our care during their sentence. They must be treated with integrity. Transgressive behavior is unacceptable. The prison must be a safe environment for both inmates and employees. That is why I am adopting all the recommendations of the Inspectorate and we are also implementing measures at the other two women’s prisons.”
With a package of measures, the minister wants to guarantee social safety in women’s prisons together with DJI. Since the Inspectorate’s investigation only focused on the situation in the PI Nieuwersluis, there will also be investigations into the situation in the other two women’s institutions.
Hotline and safe culture
If there is a suspicion of transgressive behaviour, detainees must be able to report this safely and without barriers. That is why one of the measures is that a separate attention officer for transgressive behavior is added to the Supervisory Committee at all prisons. That officer must be accessible and visible to the detainees. Detainees can report an incident confidentially to the Supervisory Committee. The report shows that not all detainees are aware of this. Therefore, this possibility is better highlighted. The Detainees Committee is also involved in this.
In addition, the DJI Training Institute is developing a special training course that gives employees clear frameworks for working with female prisoners. Employees who work or will work with female prisoners must follow this training. It is imperative that employees feel safe to speak out and to address each other about each other’s behavior. DJI will make extra efforts to increase social safety. For example, by teaching employees under professional supervision how to discuss dilemmas with each other. Employees must also know where they can report inappropriate behaviour. The ‘Guidelines for reporting integrity violations’ will be updated and brought to the attention.
Together with DJI, the minister will closely monitor the effect of these measures.