It’s very concerning the way suicide and self-harm are treated in jail and prison. We saw a girl forced by an officer to claim self-harm in order to be allowed to talk to mental health staff. We also saw a girl try to jump from from a second story balcony to get attention. One person succeeded with this.
It’s alarming the amount of ladies in here that have scars from cutting on their arms and legs. One lady showed me her stitches and said she was thinking about cutting it again. It’s especially difficult to see this once a person has become friends with a lady that cuts.
Once a suicide attempt is made or claimed, the lady is removed from all of her friends and support systems. All of their belongings are also taken away. This is also done when a lady is moved to the isolation unit. This seems like a very uncompassionate thing to do to someone that is suicidal or depressed. Sometimes they are not even allowed to wear clothes and wear a “turtle suit” which is very humiliating.
At Washington County Jail, the deputies would also call them names. One lady was sexually assaulted while handcuffed and they also put her mask over her eyes. Deputies would give special treatment to certain ladies that would flirt with them and the ones that didn’t were punished for things they didn’t do or for made up things. Intimidation, threats, and harassment are a constant problem with the deputies. They would often take meals away from ladies as punishment.
Medical staff would threaten and intimidate ladies who were trying to get medication. Medical staff would also force ladies to take medication they didn’t want or were allergic to. At trials, they allowed victim’s families to humiliate ladies who were convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. One lady had handcuffs stuck on her during trial and they cut them off with bolt cutters. If ladies had friends or family present at trial, the deputies would intimidate them as well. One person came all the way across the country to attend a trial and they embarrassed him so badly he flew home the next day.
Visits from friends or family were often denied for no reason and sometimes even legal visits. Legal mail was opened and read by the deputies before it was given to the lady. One lady had thousands of dollars stolen from her bank account and they wouldn’t allow her to call the bank.
Ladies in isolation were not allowed toothbrushes, sometimes for months at a time. Deputies often refused to send mail out. Spoiled milk was served and ladies got food poisoning. Ladies were forced to get on a scale in front of everyone. We still have no word on the investigation of Washington County Jail taking place but we really hope it’s a thorough one.