Special Problems of Women in Correctional Institutions

• NCJ Number: 78334
• Journal: Indian Journal of Social Work Volume: 41 Issue: 4 Dated: (January 1981) Pages: 347-356
• Author(s): S Shekar
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: India

Annotation

This paper raises issues about various aspects of the detention of women, specifically as 'women' rather than as just 'inmates,' in prisons and other correctional institutions in India, with special reference to institutions in Bombay.

Abstract

The paper discusses women's prisons, women's sections in prisons for men, protective homes, and beggars homes for women. In India, the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956, provides for special institutions called protective homes and corrective institutions for detaining prostitutes; however, prisons also handle mostly adult prostitutes. Special prisons for women are few, mainly because the number of women convicts is much smaller than the number of male convicts. Reports of the poor conditions for women inmates are discussed. Although larger institutions provide some occupational training for women offenders, the smaller facilities have practically no programs. Literacy classes should be made compulsory for all inmates, not just available to men, as is the situation at present, since most women enter correctional institutions as illiterates. The paper examines childbirth to women under sentence or in temporary custody, including prenatal and postnatal care; the circumstances of children dependent on the mother at the time of her arrest; and the needs of children who are permitted to stay in the institutions with their mothers. In India today, the meaning of rehabilitation for the nonworking woman offender means reabsorption in the family, or the arrangement of a marriage by the institution. For the professional i.e., working offender, effective rehabilitation means providing a suitable alternative to delinquency. Women's institutions should not merely be places where the female offender is detained; they should cater to the training and emotional needs of women and help in their rehabilitation. A total of 22 references are included.