A WOMAN EX-PATIENT'S PERSPECTIVE

ON THE NEED FOR FEMALE ONLY PSYCHIATRIC WARDS

"My stay in hospital, some 15 years ago is with me still – I've yet to go back to a psychiatric hospital for treatment. Even though I still receive treatment for my condition.

As a lesbian I found it just as hard in hospital as in the real world. Same issues. But as I was a lesbian I found my room in hospital was placed next to the men's end of the ward. Of course I questioned this within myself but it seemed a little transparent as to the reason.

Most of the men ignored me this is not unusual, as I know lesbians are

(a) invisible and

(b) not attractive to most men as they [we] (usually) do not pander to male egos.

There was an incident where a male patient I had gotten to know a bit followed me into my room and wanted to kiss me. He was only called away when the nurses came to check for "lights out". I didn’t feel particularly enraged or worried about it but it was an indication that boundaries for some of these men are poor.

Also there were some incidents of violence. In one incident a male patient was walking around with a threatening attitude wielding a golf club. Another time two males came back from leave both inebriated and high on illegal drugs became violent when approached by staff and then became extremely violent.

I very rarely saw out and out violent behaviour from the women, if ever.

The staff had a funny attitude to relationships between men and women, in some cases they positively tried to stop them forming and in others they didn’t bother.

One woman who was, very pretty was in the locked ward when a guy pulled her into her room and tried to have sex with her. The staff intervened but she

got more of the blame, as it was her room. I heard the story from this woman.

It was common that patients walked around the large amount of land the hospital was on. What was also common was that men in cars would drive through the grounds and stop women to ask [apparently] "for directions". In some cases the women were offered money.

I was with another woman patient one day when a car pulled up. I was horrified when she went to the car and opened up the door to speak to the driver. I informed the staff later and the next morning at the community meeting it was brought up including the fact that several women had been offered money, up to $20.00

I had a male friend I met in hospital …from time to time he would proposition me, without me instigating anything of the sort.

…[After he went] home from a hospital stay he could not help but talk about having sex while there. It was the manner in which this was conveyed that was most disturbing, as if that was readily available in hospital.

As a lesbian I would much rather be in an all women's ward where I would not have to deal with the issues that mixed wards create.

There, of course would still be some issues around homophobia and some women who are having trouble with their sexual identity therefore feeling threatened by my own {sexual identity], but on the whole I have found women in hospital easier to be with, more supportive and less restrictive"

Signed woman ex patient

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For more information contact; -

Female Only Psychiatric Wards Group

P.O. Box 1225, Kensington, Victoria, 3031,Australia

Telephone (mobile) 0404 145 364 (international) +61 404 145 364

Email fopwg@vicnet.net.au

Web site http://home.vicnet.net.au/~fopwg/