40 per cent women inmates in 10 north Indian prisons illiterate, reveals study

CHANDIGARH: A study conducted by Prof Nishtha Jaswal and Dr Upneet Lalli at north India's 10 prisons revealed that 40% of women inmates were illiterate.

The study that aimed at highlighting life of women prisoners in Indian jails was released during a two-day seminar on 'gender issues in correctional administration'. The conference was organised by The Institute of Correctional Administration, Chandigarh.

According to the study - Survey of Quality of Life of Women Prisoners - nearly half of the women inmates felt that they were made to live like animals, given that they were confined within four walls and had the same routine.

"We do not have access to education or other work-related programmes. There are no sports activities for us," some inmates said. The study revealed that only 20% of women inmates spend time learning new skills.

What is more interesting is the fact that most of the inmates do not even have knowledge of their rights inside the prison. "The inmates are not even aware of wages earned by them. The biggest fear among women inmates was dispute and loneliness. The major worry among women inmates was their children and their future. The study found that the stress among women inmates was very high. Counselling and rehabilitation facilities were almost negligible in the prisons," the study revealed.

The study also highlighted that nearly 74% of prison staff faced challenges while dealing with women inmates, especially the drug addicts. Interestingly, the women staff was also not aware of an internal complaint committee for dealing with sexual harassment complaints at workplace. The research underlined the need to provide counselling and skill training to women inmates.

Meanwhile, 30 prison officers from Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat, and Himachal participated in the seminar.

The seminar was inaugurated by Prof Nishtha Jaswal, vice-chancellor of National Law University in Shimla.