Women in Imprisonment

Liberty of a person is the most sacred of human rights. One can be deprived of his liberty only after adopting the due course of law. The system of imprisonment in Pakistan does not guarantee the rights of female inmates. Female prisoners are more vulnerable due to their gender and social status. They have less access to justice as majority of them suffer from poverty and lack knowledge of their fundamental rights. They cannot hire services of a lawyer for consideration of their bails. Children of female prisoners suffer more as compared to men because the dictates of the Pakistani society place the primary care of children on the mother. Pregnant prisoners and mothers in prisons are at risk of raising future criminals as minors usually reside with their mothers in prison. Women have to face sexual harassment in prison. Inadequate gender specific health care needs in prison, victimization of women from sexual and physical abuse prior to imprisonment, post release stigmatization, victimization and abandonment by their families; are all factors predisposing women to being vulnerable to abuse in prisons. A gender sensitized approach, therefore, is required to ensure that rights of female prisoners are protected. Such an approach would require participation by all stakeholders i.e. police, prosecution, courts, prison staff, NGO’s and government. There is therefore, a need to reform the law regulating the imprisonment system. There are a number of international conventions that prescribe the bare minimum that must be provided for female inmates, none of which are followed. This paper analyses the system of imprisonment in Pakistan, in context of incarcerated females and suggests reforms which engender alternatives to imprisonment for females.

Judge Sanah Ehsan ur Rehman is a graduate of the University of Punjab, LLB programme and is pursuing her LLM. She has practiced as an advocate of the High court, as a Prosecutor (ADPP) and currently serves as a civil judge cum Judicial Magistrate 1st Class in Lahore.