Prisoners with disabilities are being locked in solitary confinement for prolonged periods, living in nappies, urinating in bottles and suffering physical and sexual abuse, including at the hands of carers, a damning new report has found.
A detailed Human Rights Watch investigation of 14 prisons in Western Australia and Queensland has delivered a scathing assessment of Australia’s treatment of prisoners with disabilities, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
The report recorded harrowing accounts of rape and sexual violence. It raised serious concerns about a prisoner-carer model that appoints inmates to look after fellow prisoners who have high support needs. In one prison, six out of the eight carers were convicted sex offenders, Human Rights Watch said.
Read more at The Guardian below.
