The new Sanem penitentiary is expected to be operational by the autumn of 2022, and will allow authorities to renovate the prison infrastructure in Schrassig. The latter is not yet up to current standards. In a parliamentary question to Minister of Justice Sam Tanson, Déi Lénk MP Marc Baum expressed his concerns over unfair disadvantages faced by female prisoners.
Baum based his enquiry on a report from 2017, which was put together by the mediation of ombudsman Claudia Monti. The report concluded that female prisoners do not receive the same advantages as male prisoners, citing unequal access to therapy as an example.
In her answer to the MP's question, the minister admits that female prisoners in Schrassig do not have access to the entirety of therapeutical treatments. Tanson explains that this is due to the rooms in question being too small as well as regulations stipulating that male and female prisoners must be strictly separated for safety reasons. However, since the infrastructure is to be modernised anyway, the ministry intends to work with the responsible administration to expand therapy services available to female prisoners. Professionals within the Schrassig facility are also currently working on a similar project. The minister promises the MP that once the prison is fully upgraded, female prisoners will receive better treatment.
In her report from 2017, the mediator also stated that it was not easy for prisoners to receive visitors from their family.
In fact, so-called "intimate visits" do not exist at all in Schrassig. Tanson acknowledges this as well, again pointing out that the prison does not have the necessary infrastructure yet but will have once its modernisation is complete.
However, the minister almost completely rules out the possibility that female prisoners might become victims of sexual abuse by other prisoners, the reason for that being that they are strictly separated from the male prisoners.
The mediator also emphasized that women do not have the same job opportunities that men have during their time in the penitentiary. The only tasks available to female prisoners are activities like ironing and sewing, according to the report. Baum thus also enquired as to whether gender diversity has increased in the prison's various workshops during the three years since the report was published. The minister again admits that the answer is no, stating that while the responsible administration is currently assessing which workshops female prisoners could potentially participate in, there have not been any tangible results due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The minister's answers to this line of questioning seem to indicate that the authorities are expecting major change once the Sanem facility is operational, which will in turn allow for the prison in Schrassig to be upgraded. This despite the fact that only men will be put into pretrial detention in the Sanem penitentiary. The block reserved for female prisoners will remain in Schrassig, even though it can be expected that more space will be available there once a significant number of prisoners have been transferred to Sanem.
In 2017, 34 women were incarcerated in Schrassig and an additonal 6 in Givenich.
The entire answer by Minister of Justice Sam Tanson to the parliamentary questions by Déi Lénk MP Marc Baum (in French) can be found here.
