Race Equality has been at the centre of the Government agenda for the last seven years. In 2002 the Race Equality Scheme for the Prison Service was published and in 2003 the Action Plan, “Implementing Race Equality in Prisons: a Shared Agenda for Change”, was launched. This action plan for implementing Race Equality is monitored jointly by the Prison Service Management Board and the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) which is now called the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The Race Equality Action Group (REAG) is a Prison Service organisation responsible for prisoner Race Equality issues. They offer support and guidance to Prison Service staff in meeting their legal obligations such as those contained within the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.Other responsibilities of the Race Equality Action Group (REAG) include assessing functions, activities and policies for any adverse impact on Race Equality, providing practical assistance and advice to
establishments on Race Equality issues, ensuring freedom of access to information about the Prison Service's Race Equality work and helping to develop sustainable links with the community at large. |
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The Race Equality Action Group with its external partners and stakeholders, such as Portsmouth Race Equality Network Organisation (PRENO), is supporting establishments in a number of key areas such as Community Engagement. This partnership means working together to deal with the challenges presented by the Race Equality agenda that the Prison Service currently faces. Challenges that
are similarly mirrored in our wider society.
As a result of the partnership between REAG and PRENO (as reported in the last PRENO Newsletter Issue 10 October 2007) PRENO has now recruited a new Race Equality Prison Community Liaison, specifically to undertake a project, “Community Engagement Model for the Isle of Wight Prisons”. I was delighted to be selected for this post and I am now taking this opportunity to introduce myself to you all. My name is Vera da Silva Sinha and I am Brazilian born and now a British Citizen. I am an Anthropologist and have many years experience of working with minority groups and individuals. I was previously employed as a research associate in the Psychology Department of Portsmouth University.
The Race Equality Prison/Community project was initially designed to serve the Isle of Wight Prisons (Camp Hill, Parkhurst and Albany) but has now been extended to include HMP Kingston (Portsmouth) and Haslar Immigration Removal Centre (Gosport).
The Isle of Wight has a predominantly white population. Recent figures (2005) show that there is only a small Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) population located on the Island and this has been a contributing factor to the IOW Prisons having had great difficulty in developing external BME community links.
There are, however a considerable number of BME prisoners held within these establishments, many of whom have been transferred from more ethnically diverse areas of the country.
Based upon official figures (Prison Service ethnic monitoring statistics for December 2007) Parkhurst has 24.21% BME prisoners, Albany has 13.93%, Camp Hill follows in a similar pattern and Kingston has 25.76%. Haslar which houses immigration detainees has a predominantly BME population. In contrast there are few, or no, BME prison staff working in these establishments.
To develop this Community Engagement Project we will need your help. This is your opportunity to join with us and help empower our efforts. The values underlying our work include eliminating unlawful discrimination, promoting equality of opportunity and promoting good race relations between people of different racial groups. In the coming year I will have a presence in each of these establishments so as to build up a strong relationship with staff and prisoners alike. In order to do this, I will need volunteers, including volunteers from the BME community, to help promote these underlying values. One of our most ambitious goals will be to reduce the distance between ourselves (as groups or individuals) and the prisons in our community. We are aware of the challenges that lie ahead, such as the stereotypical perception that 'prisons are for criminals and I do not have anything to do with that'. We also need to reflect on what imprisonment means in our society. People in prison have committed crimes and are paying for those crimes.
Do they deserve the extra punishment of being treated unfairly or unequally because of their colour, nationality or religion?
The Prison Service has made a commitment and PRENO has made a commitment. Are you able to make that same commitment?
PLEASE JOIN WITH US TO MAKE THIS COMMITMENT
THANK-YOU |
