Focus

Caring jail guard earns her stripes in inmates' eyes

By Zhang Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-22 07:55

Han Xiaoyun, a 34-year-old guard in Beijing, supervises 100 female detainees at the Changping District Detention Center. Wang Jing / China Daily

Jail guards are not always at odds with the inmates.

Han Xiaoyun, a 34-year-old guard in Beijing, said she sometimes acts like a sister or mother for the female suspects detained in the Changping District Detention Center.

For the past six years, she has devoted her time and energy to supervising 100 detainees at the center, despite a heavy workload at home: she has a husband with high blood sugar levels and an 8-year-old son who needs help with homework.

She strives to learn the background and character of each one of the women in her care.

"The female suspects belong to a particular group, as many of them are mothers and wives," Han said. "They are more inclined to emotional or psychological breakdowns and require more attention from us."

Han said she gleans information from an inmate's profile when the woman enters the center: why she was put in detention, her stories and her family background.

Related readings:
Caring jail guard earns her stripes in inmates' eyes Detention centers aim for transparency

"Through communicating with them, I can get to know them better," she said. "I especially want to learn about what I can do to help alleviate the pain her detention has brought to her family. I want to breathe hope into their lives, help them realize what they did wrong in the past, restore confidence in their future and help reduce their psychological burden."

Han's hard work has paid off. Even the most cynical of detainees say good things about her.

When a METRO reporter went to Changping District Detention Center to interview Han, all the inmates interviewed said Han's good deeds deserve media attention.

"You guys should have come earlier and she's definitely a person you should learn about," one said.

Chen Ying, 21-year-old graduate of the Capital University of Economics and Business who had signed a contract for a 4,000 yuan monthly job with the China Academy of Space Technology, is among the women mired in deep sorrow about the possibility of a ruined future.

She is accused of being involved in a kidnapping, on her boyfriend's orders one month before her graduation.

"As a college student, I have knowledge about civil law and already had a good job," Chen said. "But I just lacked common sense and trusted my boyfriend. I didn't think about the result back then."

Chen said she couldn't sleep or eat when she first came to the center.

"Han is just like my mother, she always communicates with me patiently and helps me realize my wrongdoing through analyzing the case," Chen said. "She encouraged me never to give up, and establish a healthy attitude toward my life after I get out.

"If she didn't care about me and had not talked with me to enlighten me, I would have destroyed my life once again," Chen said.

Chen hopes to leave the detention house as soon as possible so that she can continue postgraduate studies in economics. She hopes to work as a stockbroker.

Gao Guifen, 62, from Liaoning province, was detained beginning in November. She organized prostitution in her hair salon. Her husband, also in his 60s, is being held elsewhere.

Gao said she thought about suicide when she arrived at the center.

"I bear a heavy burden in my heart," Gao said. "I miss my two sons in my hometown, and worry about my husband's health. I feel so shameful to my family and relatives for what I have done."

"I also feel very angry, I invested 100,000 yuan in the hair salon, which lasted only one and a half months. I came to Beijing to make money, but not only did I use up all my life savings, but I also got myself into an illegal business," she said, crying.

Gao, who said she suffers from lung disease, said Han cares about her health.

"She sent me thick clothes in winter, fearing that I might catch cold and always communicates with me to relieve my psychological pressures," Gao said.

Gao quoted Han as saying: "At your age, the most important thing is to have good health. Please eat more and sleep well, or you will put additional pressure on your sons in Liaoning."

Gao said with Han's encouragement, she is once again dreaming about resuming a normal life.

"Although I have broken the law, I am aware of my error, and accept the sanctions," she said. "I hope for a reunion with my family as soon as possible."

In March, Gao was convicted of organizing prostitution and sentenced to five years in prison by the Changping district court. Her husband received the same sentence.

In May they will be sent to prisons in Liaoning to serve their terms.