Women in prisons

Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari has presented a report to the prime minister, detailing the plight of women held in jails across Pakistan. There are just under 2000 such prisoners. The report was sought by the prime minister in May this year to look into the problems faced by females in prisons. It was compiled with the assistance of all four provincial governments as well as Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and two civil society experts.

Women in jails face particular hazards related to health and the conditions of their detention. Some are imprisoned alongside their young children. This means that there is a greater load on prison services and very little attention to the particular requirements of women or their children. The situation of female prisoners is one that has not been adequately looked into, and prisons intended to house women or sections for women within major prisons are often badly overcrowded and poorly cared for. In the past, there have also been reports of shortages of female staff.

This then is a very real problem. We are glad the government has taken it up. The next step of course is to make changes based on recommendations from experts who have studied the issue in depth. Some of these experts have already promised to provide input. As a priority, given the intense overcrowding in our jails, prisoners who bring with them children should be put behind bars only when there is no other alternative. In other cases, community-based restraints and other similar measures need to be developed as has been the case in many other countries.

We have also seen reports of the alleged abuse of female prisoners by male jail staff. This too is a problem that needs to be combated as quickly as possible. As the prime minister noticed, the first step should be to ensure the jail rules manual, the Penal Code of Pakistan and other international conventions were respected and fully applied. Following this, other measures could be developed to help improve conditions inside jails so that prisoner rights are not overlooked and that they are in prison with a degree of humanity that could help them move out of jails as better citizens with the ability to serve their communities in one way or the other.