🔗 Share this article

“When you imprison a woman, you imprison a family,” an adolescent woman in Sierra Leone told me, cradling her infant child in a damp cell. This statement echoes a individual experience from adolescence, hearing my mother cry after learning my father had been arrested for political reasons in Zambia.

I am acutely aware how children become the secondary casualties of incarceration. During my career as a legal professional, I have seen that this is particularly accurate when the primary caregivers, usually women – are the ones arrested.

My work has shown me the profoundly negative effects of confinement on countless females and their offspring. Furthermore, I have seen how their perspectives are overlooked, even within discussions on female empowerment.

Unraveling the ‘Bad Girl’ Label

Communities commonly label women in prison as “wrongdoers.” However, imagine if this tag is a misconception? The greater part of female prisoners are imprisoned for minor, non-violent infractions. Detailed analysis conducted over the last 24 months reveals that in most cases, women are criminalised due to poverty, mental health challenges, abuse or prejudice.

One in two female inmates in custody, in contrast with less than a third of men, experience a substance dependency in the twelve months prior to incarceration.

In a detention center in South Africa, a woman shared her arrest for stealing, an act of desperation to provide for her children. In Sierra Leone, numerous women were found to be arrested for financial obligations. In Kenya, stories abound of women arrested for “hawking” – trading items without a permit – simply to make ends meet.

Women from Mexico explained how the global narcotics crackdown is contributing to an increase in the number of women incarcerated, particularly in Latin America and Asia. Many women engage in drug trade due to financial desperation and force; while not key figures in the narcotics network, they are easier to apprehend by police aiming to fulfill arrest targets.

When Violence is a Response

The small proportion of women who engage in violent offenses are usually survivors of violence themselves. Consider, 21-year-old Chisomo from Malawi, arrested for the killing of her former partner. He had attacked her and vowed to murder her if she left. Chisomo ultimately ran away after he made an attempt on her life. However, he subsequently assaulted her, cutting her. In a moment of survival, she seized the weapon and retaliated.

I have worked alongside lawyers across the globe who push for legal processes to account for a woman’s history of deprivation and violence. But despite these efforts, a justice system built by men and for men continues to disadvantage women through inherent biases. Those who deviate from traditional stereotypes of the virtuous and nurturing female are often subject to stricter sentences.

Prisons are not safe spaces for women. Vulnerable women go into prison and come out even more damaged.

My research has recorded instances where women have endured sexual violence and where practices such as invasive strip-searches and segregation cause further harm to women with pasts involving assault or mental health challenges. The rates among female inmates of suicidal behavior are often greater than those in men’s prisons.

Even with international standards requiring that prison should be a ultimate measure, particularly for expectant mothers and women with small kids, tragic stories persist of women who suffer stillbirths and of newborns who do not survive in detention.

Children: The Unseen Casualties

Children – whether with their mothers in detention or separated at home – are the overlooked casualties. Reports indicate there are at least 19,000 children living behind bars with their mothers, while a overwhelming 1.4 million children live with a mother in prison.

The long-term damaging effects of parental imprisonment on children are well researched. It is impossible to erase trying to find the kids of a desperate mother in Sierra Leone, who had no knowledge what had happened to them after her arrest. A neighbour had taken them in but the young daughter went to trade on the street to earn an income and was lost forever.

A Global Blind Spot

A significant primary disappointments is how the imprisonment of women remains a neglected area. International summits on women’s rights, where strategic decisions and resource allocation are set, continue to overlook this critical issue. As an example, there was a complete absence of women in prison in the key document at the UN Commission on the Status of Women this year.

Studies show that organisations working with and for incarcerated women are chronically under-resourced, even by contributors to advocacy for justice and equity. Historically, social shame, a desire to promote only “easily relatable survivors” and the marginalization of those who do not fit neat narratives has meant that vulnerable women and their children are ignored, even with pledges to “include everyone.”

Foundations for a New Justice

However, alongside documenting hardship, one can find hope. Around the world, women are redesigning what a equitable system could be, from the interior and exterior of correctional facilities. In Colombia, campaigners helped pass an progressive legislation allowing women to undertake rehabilitative work rather than go to jail in certain circumstances.

In Sierra Leone, gender justice advocates successfully challenged colonial-era loitering laws. In the UK, women’s centres offer a example of local aid that is more effective and less costly than prison.

Recently, at the initial meeting of a global network of formerly incarcerated women, I was moved to tears hearing stories of women turning years of pain into something powerful, providing each other with solidarity and working together to reshape the structures that impact their lives.

As the number of women in prison continues to grow at an disturbing speed – increasing at a higher rate than that of men – and we near the sobering milestone of over a million women behind bars internationally, this serves as a wake-up call.

The Need for Responsibility and Movement

The year ahead offers significant chances for influence to address this neglect – from global conferences to prominent gender equality summits.

Governments need to be made responsible for their {failure to implement|inability