From Conflict to Peace? The Rights Abuses of Women and Girls in Prison in Northern Ireland

Abstract

This article is based on primary research conducted by the authors in Northern Ireland in the Mourne House women's unit at Maghaberry Prison in 2004 and in Ash House women's prison unit in Hydebank Wood Young Offender Centre from 2005–2006. It explores the imprisonment of women in prison in the context of a society slowly and unevenly emerging from violent conflict and against a backdrop of the global rise of women's imprisonment over the past two decades. The history of the gendered punishment of politically motivated prisoners is explored, followed by discussion of the findings of primary research in Mourne House women's unit, and after its closure, in Ash House. The conclusion analyses how women's prison experiences in the North contribute to an understanding of the contested terrain of agency and resistance. Finally, the article explores the potential for, and barriers, to change within women's imprisonment in Northern Ireland.