Women’s Prisons New Strategy for Women by the New Zealand Department of Corrections Department of Corrections: “We know that our prisons have been largely developed to accommodate men, with operating policies that don’t differ between men and women despite their significant differences, and some of our programmes for the most part are not gender-responsive or informed by the trauma that many women have experienced throughout their lives.”Women make up just six percent of the total prison population in New Zealand and 19% of the total number of people serving community sentences or orders. However, many women have been victims themselves, experiencing lives of poverty, trauma, neglect and physical and sexual violence.Over 50% of women have suffered from post-traumatic stress at some point (men in prison: 22%), 75% have been diagnosed with a mental health issue in the last 12 months (men: 61%) and 68% have been the victim of family violence.
