Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make a point on the differences in sentencing depending on one's gender. I first visited Mountjoy Prison when I was a trainee solicitor. We were brought up to see the men's and the women's prisons and there is significant difference between the two. The prison officer who was bringing us around pointed out that the women who ended up there tended to have been victims throughout their lives but, for the first time in their lives, they were in a safe environment. They had a bed to sleep in and they were not going to be attacked in their own home. The officer said that when women entered prison, their outside relationships broke down. They are not visited by their partners or husbands, though their mothers come in with their children and their sisters or other people in the community. In the men's prison, however, the wives and girlfriends continue the relationships. There is a significant difference between female offenders and male offenders. It was an eye opener for me and it was very sad to see that women desperately wanted to stay in the women's prison because they received support, education and training there for the first time in their lives. It is a pity the men do not get a similar experience when they are in jail.