Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has come up with its report titled ‘Women in Prisons’ which aims to build an understanding of the various entitlements of women in prisons, various issues faced by them and possible methods for resolution of the same.
The report contains a comprehensive list of 134 recommendations for improving the lives of women under incarceration, addressing a wide range of issues pertaining to pregnancy and childbirth in prison, mental health, legal aid, reintegration in society and their care giving responsibilities among others. Various changes in the National Model Prison Manual 2016 have also been suggested to bring it in line with international standards and norms.
Speaking about the report, Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi has said that this initiative should change the way prison administration perceives women inmates.
The report covers a wide range of issues that women face in prisons and is inclusive of the needs of the elderly and the disabled. The report not only considers the needs of pregnant women, but also those who have recently given birth but whose children are not with them in prison, those who have miscarried, or those who have recently undergone abortion. Apart from this, due consideration has also been given to the religious and customary beliefs of inmates.
The report suggests that prior to their imprisonment, women with care-giving responsibilities must be allowed to make arrangements for their children, and a reasonable suspension of detention may also be provided for this purpose. In case there are no family/friends where the child (above 6 years of age) can be left, he must be placed at a Child Care Institution. To address the problems of loss of ties with the child, the report encourages greater links of the child with the mother throughout her incarceration through extended visits and frequent meetings.
The report proposes that bail should be granted to those undertrial women who have spent one-third of their maximum possible sentence in detention, by making necessary changes in Section 436A of the CrPC which provides for release after half of the maximum sentence has been served. The report also recommends that a maximum timeframe may be decided for release of women prisoners after bail is granted but surety is not produced. This would ensure that poor or financially dependent women are not left to languish in prisons, according to a PIB release.
Considering the needs of women in their post-natal stages, the report recommends a separate accommodation for mothers in post-natal stage to maintain hygiene and protect the infant from contagion, for at least a year after childbirth. Apart from the needs of pregnant and lactating women, the report has also suggested that special provisions relating to health and nutrition be made for women who have recently given birth outside prison, or who have undergone abortion or miscarriage.
The report recommends that instruments of restraint, punishment by close confinement or disciplinary segregation should never be used on pregnant and lactating women. The report also suggests that pregnant women must be given information and access to abortion during incarceration, to the extent permissible by law.
To make legal aid more effective, the report suggests that legal consultations must be conducted in confidentiality and without censorship. Re-integration of women in society is a grave problem due to the stigma attached to incarceration. In the study conducted by MWCD, it was found that in many cases, women were abandoned by their families and left to fend for themselves after their release.
The report proposes a comprehensive after-care programme to be put in place covering employment, financial support, regaining of child custody, shelter, counselling, continuity of health care services etc. Counselling should also be provided to family members and employers to adequately receive the woman after release.
This report would now be shared with the Ministry of Home Affairs for issuing advisory to the States for implementation of the recommendations made in the report.