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Journalism of Courage
Only jails in Goa, Delhi, and Puducherry allow female prisoners to meet their children without any bars or glass separation. Importantly, less than 40% of prisons in the country provide sanitary napkins for female inmates. Moreover, 75% of female wards in prisons have to share kitchens and common facilities with male wards. These are some of the key findings of the Supreme Court-appointed committee looking into prison reforms.
“Women in incarceration suffer the brunt of imprisonment far worse than their male counterparts, especially with regard to access to basic facilities ranging from medical care and medical staff, legal aid and counsel, to paid labour and recreational facilities. These fundamentals are frequently denied to women who live in enclosures inside the larger setup of a prison facility as opposed to an exclusive women’s prison facility,” the report states.
On August 29, the Supreme Court sought the views of the Centre and the states on the Justice Amitava Roy Committee report submitted on December 27, 2022, underlining that the correctional justice system is “evidently gender exclusionary”.
Between 2014 and 2019, Indian prisons witnessed an increase in the population of female prisoners by 11.7%, and by 2019, women accounted for 4.2% of the total prison population. Despite this, the report points out that only 18% of women prisoners are allotted exclusive women’s prison facilities, as only 15 states and UTs have functional women’s prisons. It adds that all categories of female prisoners are lodged in the same wards and barracks, whether they are undertrials or convicts.
There is also a lack of gender-specific training, the report states, adding that matrons haven’t been instructed on how to search women. It also states that women inmates are allowed to file complaints against the jail staff for any form of abuse or harassment only in 10 states and 1 UT.
While hearing the matter related to conditions in prisons, Supreme Court in September 2018 constituted a three-member committee to look into issues involving jail reforms and make recommendations on several aspects, including overcrowding. The panel submitted its report four years later. On August 29, the SC sought the views of the Centre and state governments on the committee's report.
The lack of separate medical and psychiatric wards for women inmates, “basic minimum facilities” for child delivery, and healthcare professionals to address the gender-specific health needs of female inmates are challenges on the medical front. Additionally, prisons in 19 states and 6 UTs lack psychiatric wards for women inmates.
To resolve these issues, the report recommends introducing telemedicine facilities like remote diagnosis and virtual consultation for the treatment of inmates, strengthening vocational training and education programmes, and replacing imprisonment for petty offences with community service and proper counselling for inmates with psychological disorders.
In September 2018, the top court, while hearing the matter related to conditions prevailing in prisons across India, had constituted a three-member committee headed by former SC judge Justice Roy to look into issues involving jail reforms and make recommendations on several aspects, including overcrowding in prisons. Nearly two years later, the committee submitted its report.
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