“Detaining a woman inevitably means detaining her family,” a youthful parent in Sierra Leone told me, cradling her infant child in a moist detention space. This statement recalls a individual experience from adolescence, hearing my mother sob after learning my father had been detained for his political stance in Zambia.
I understand deeply how children become the collateral damage of incarceration. Over two decades as a lawyer, I have seen that this is especially the case when the primary caregivers, usually women – are the ones arrested.
My work has shown me the destructive consequences of confinement on countless females and their offspring. Moreover, I have seen how their voices are ignored, even within spaces dedicated to women’s rights.
Debunking the ‘Bad Girl’ Stereotype
Communities commonly label women in prison as “wrongdoers.” Yet consider if this tag is a misconception? The vast majority of incarcerated women are locked up due to minor, non-violent infractions. Detailed analysis conducted over the last 24 months demonstrates that in a high percentage of situations, women are penalized due to poverty, mental illness, violence or discrimination.
Half of all women behind bars, in contrast with a smaller fraction of men, struggle with a substance dependency in the twelve months prior to incarceration.
In a South African correctional facility, a woman described her arrest for stealing, an act of desperation to feed her family. In Sierra Leone, numerous women were found to be arrested for financial obligations. In Kenya, stories abound of women taken in for “informal selling” – selling food without a official authorization – simply to survive.
Women from Mexico explained how the global narcotics crackdown is causing a surge in the number of women incarcerated, particularly in Latin America and Asia. A significant number engage in drug trade due to poverty and force; despite not being leaders in the drug trade, they are more readily arrested by police aiming to fulfill arrest targets.
When Violence is a Response
The limited number of women who engage in violent offenses are usually individuals with a history of trauma themselves. For instance, 21-year-old Chisomo from Malawi, arrested for the death of her former partner. He had abused her and made death threats if she left. Chisomo finally fled after he made an attempt on her life. Yet, he later attacked her, injuring her with a knife. In self-defence, she took hold of the blade and fought back.
I have worked alongside lawyers across the globe who advocate for legal processes to consider a woman’s history of economic hardship and mistreatment. However, regardless of this advocacy, a judicial framework created with a male perspective continues to fail women through inherent biases. Those who fail to meet conventional expectations of the idealized feminine role are often given more severe penalties.
Detention centers are far from protective places for women. At-risk females enter incarceration and come out further traumatised.
My research has recorded instances where women have experienced assault and where methods including invasive strip-searches and solitary confinement create more damage to women with backgrounds of assault or mental health challenges. Statistics for incarcerated women of suicidal behavior are often greater than those in male facilities.
Even with global guidelines mandating that prison should be a final option, notably for women carrying children and women with young children, tragic stories persist of women who suffer stillbirths and of newborns who do not survive in custody.
The Hidden Sufferers – Children
Children – living within prison walls or in the community – are the unseen sufferers. Reports indicate there are at least 19,000 children detained in prison with their mothers, while a astonishing 1.4 million children live with a mother in prison.
The cycle of trauma of a parent's incarceration on children are well researched. I vividly recall trying to trace the children of a distressed inmate in Sierra Leone, who had not a clue what had happened to them after her arrest. A neighbour had provided shelter but the child went to trade on the street to earn an income and was never seen again.
A Global Blind Spot
Among the biggest frustrations is how women’s incarceration remains a blind spot. High-level forums on women’s rights, where policy and funding priorities are set, repeatedly omit this pressing matter. For instance, there was no mention of imprisoned females in the political declaration at the UN Commission on the Status of Women this year.
Studies show that organisations dedicated to helping female prisoners are critically underfunded, even by donors to rights-based and gender equality initiatives. Historically, stigma, a desire to promote only “sympathetic victims” and the exclusion of those who do not fit straightforward profiles has meant that vulnerable women and their children are forgotten, despite commitments to “leave no one behind.”
Foundations for a New Justice
However, alongside witnessing suffering, there exists hope. Internationally, women are reimagining what justice could look like, from both inside and outside prison walls. In Colombia, campaigners helped pass an progressive legislation allowing women to complete alternative punishments rather than face imprisonment in certain circumstances.
In Sierra Leone, gender justice advocates successfully contested archaic public order regulations. In the UK, female-focused rehabilitation hubs offer a blueprint of social assistance that is superior in outcomes and lower in expense than prison.
Two years ago, at the inaugural gathering of a international coalition of female ex-inmates, I wept hearing stories of women transforming deep suffering into something liberating, offering mutual support and working together to change the systems that govern their existence.
As the number of women in prison keeps increasing at an worrisome pace – increasing at a higher rate than that of men – and we approach the sobering milestone of more than one million women behind bars internationally, this serves as a wake-up call.
Demanding Change and Investment
The coming year offers important moments for campaigning to address this neglect – from international forums to prominent gender equality summits.
Nations should be held accountable for their {failure to implement|inability
