 |  | | | New Hall Prison | Tuesday 23 April 2002 | | |
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin has ordered that the thousands of women in prison with children under 3 should be released immediately to ease over-crowding. It is a desperate measure to cope with desperate times and there are deep anxieties there about what will happen to women who have no job and no home to go to.
The question of how to deal with female offenders and their youngsters has exercised authorities in Britain as well for some time. In England and Wales there are now more than four thousand women inside, more than double the number just ten years ago.
The government's response is to build 2 new prisons, both with small mother and baby units. Woman's Hour talks to the head of the Prison Service, Martin Narey and to a former prisoner, Marie Mahoney, about sending babies into prison with their mothers.
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