All of us with a Netflix account, or well, the password of one shared by 7 other people, have probably, if not watched, at least heard of the real whirlwind of a show called “Orange is the New Black”. The series is based on the real life account of a woman named Piper Kermen who was sentenced to 15 months in a minimum-security federal prison for charges bought upon of money laundering and drug trafficking. The show, somewhat accurately highlights multiple themes and plotlines throughout its run, and tries to depict, as close as it possibly could, what life really is like for a woman who has been incarcerated. Well, to correct, what life really is like for a white woman who has been incarcerated in the United States.
How often has one heard someone say, or read an article in the times, or seen a headline on the news talking about a female in our country who has been sent to jail? If your answer to this is not often, then know that you are not the only one. Unfortunately, the common consensus on such a question is that this phenomenon is not something widely known, acknowledged, heard of or even talked about. And why would it be, when in fact out of the 3 to 3.6 lakh women arrested every year, only around 18000 of them actually go to jail. According to the Prison Statistics of India for the year 2015, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) states that out of the 419623 people in jail, women constitute for only 4.3% of this figure, getting their number to a total of 17,834 women. 4.3%, while the other side dominates with a whopping 95.7%.The vast difference between these two figures, as expected, leads to many unjust hardships and struggles faced by these women who are clearly in minority.
Due to their very limited number, female inmates are commonly overlooked and their pleas left unanswered. Moreover the conditions they reside in our extremely harsh. Due to obvious reasons, that male inmates are just way higher in number than female prisoners, prison systems are primarily designed to cater to men, and are not equipped and financed enough to address the specific needs of a woman in prison. To make matters worse, only a mere 17% of these women live in exclusively female prisons, while the unfortunate and underprovided for majority are kept in small female compartments in general prisons. There is national and international agreement that the state of prisons and of the women residing in them needs grave and desperate improvement.
Even though, there exist many provisions for the safety and ultimate growth of an individual during their time in prison, sadly the implementation and practical execution of these laws and rules is severely lacking in our current systems. In India, rather than prisons being a place where one reflects on past mistakes and thus paves a better path for their future, the inhumane and crippling conditions one has to face during their time, lead to much more psychological and physical harm than good, not only for women but men as well.
Over-crowding, is a very real problem in prisons, with most of them maxed out to around 120%. For females, this poses as a very serious threat, since this coupled with the unfulfilled promise of an adequate number of bathrooms and toilets, leads to very unhygienic conditions for all of them. As the trend very clearly shows, it is also right to assume that sanitary hygiene products are very limited, if even provided at all, in supply. There is a general lack of prison staff which includes guards, attendants, doctors and supervisors. The numbers dwindle even more when it comes to female officers and attendants, which is an extremely undesirable and unsafe situation for all these female prisoners.
Poor quality of food, lack of legal aid, insufficient healthcare provisions, extremely limited or even non-existent access to education and most importantly rising instances of physical and sexual abuse and violence are some of the many problems that contribute to the plight of all incarcerated woman. Prison uniforms and necessities such as blankets, towels and bed sheets aren’t washed and are reused by inmates, which, as one could guess, are extremely awful conditions for one to live in. Pretty far off from the relatively shiny image we see on our TV screens…isn’t it?
Another whole dimension of this, not explored in this article yet, includes pregnant woman and mothers who still have to provide for their child’s well-being and safety. Children under the age of 6 may live with their mother however, very few special services are provided. Experiences such as these can obviously result in very scarring and long-lasting memories for a young child. Pregnant and lactating women are to be given a more nutritious diet as well as the availability of boiled water and milk. Gynaecological examinations of prisoners are to be performed in District Government Hospitals and in some critical cases they are also allowed to be released to a hospital. Although all of these practices and regulations are in place, the actual and satisfactory implementation of them is again, not at all up-to standard. What is stated in the law isn’t provided and that, above all, is the biggest problem for all these women.
All these details beg the question, what is the reason for such neglect of basic human rights and the ill-treatment of these female prisoners. Could it possibly be that the government’s budget is too low; that they haven’t allocated enough funds towards this country’s prisons? In the past 15 years, the population of Indian women prisoners has increased by approximately 61% and yet, there seems to be no increment in the resources allocated or the funds provided to these central jails. A reason for this increase in the number of female prisoners is the fact that most women in jail come from economically and socially disadvantaged families of society. Due to their limited incomes, they are unable to pay their bail and thus have to spend their sentence in jail while their trials go on, which are sadly pushed back and not fought to optimum standards.
Equal and improved rights for these women have to be demanded, a change has to be seen as we, the educated and the informed, are the only ones who can voice their injustice. This starts by us knowing more about the devastating conditions that these prisoners, not only women, have to live in. We need to educate ourselves to help the disadvantaged, and thus give their story a platform to shine. It is important to be informed, important to care, and that shall be the first step.
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