By Christian Conteh
Overcrowding in Sierra Leone’s correctional centres is an age old challenge, fueled by the several inadequacies in the country’s criminal justice system. With the advent of the COVID-19 Pandemic correctional centres risk exposing detainees to the virus, a new joint research from AdvocAid and Cyrus R. Vance Centre for International Justice suggests.
The research which looks at the causes and consequences of women’s imprisonment in Sierra Leone interviewed predominantly women held in pre-trial detention.
Court backlogs and strict bail conditions lead to women languishing in pre-trial detention for excessive time periods. This major cause of overcrowding, which combined with limited access to water and sanitation, is putting detained women in alarmingly precarious conditions as the current COVID-19 pandemic rages on.
The research finds out that criminalisation of poverty is one of the main reasons for over incarceration of women, with 71% of interviewees saying that before going to prison they could only afford one or two meals per day. Almost half had been the main earners of their households and 88% were taking care of at least one child before their arrests. 34 % of the women interviewed had been arrested and detained for economic or petty crime, often committed for their survival or that of their loved one.
“I have eight children and sometimes it was just impossible to take care of them all. So I borrowed some money from a friend but when I couldn’t pay back she turned me in to the police. I am so worried, who will make sure that my children go to school and are well fed now?” Mariama asks.
The majority of incarcerated women are survivors of sexual and gender-based violence – 48% during their childhood, 72% as adults at the hands of their partners, and 45% during adulthood from someone other than their partner. Out of the 24% of women who were in prison for committing a crime against their partner, 94% reported that the partner beat, bullied, belittled, or sexually harmed them before they committed the crime.
Narrating her ordeal Adama another inmate revealed that she was just 14 and going to school when a man who was older impregnated her.
“My family decided I should marry him in a traditional wedding so that I wouldn’t give birth out of wedlock. We later moved to Freetown and I gave birth to a baby boy. My husband was financially, physically and emotionally abusive. Every time he was angry at me, he would rape me. He didn’t even give me money to cook and care for our kid so I started cooking and selling fish to support me and the boy. I reported my husband to the police but they did nothing.
One day, my husband ate the food I was going to sell for survival and so I asked him to pay me money. He said he would not pay me and he started beating me. I had a knife in my hand because I was cooking when he started squeezing my throat. I stabbed him on his side and he died. There is still no justice for women in Sierra Leone because I kept reporting my husband to the police but they never took me seriously.”
According to Lydia Kembabazi AdvocAid’s Legal Manager the majority of women behind bars should not be detained.
“The over-incarceration of women, most who come in conflict with the law because of poverty or abuse, is causing long-lasting damage to women and children. Sierra Leone should urgently invest in gender-responsive alternatives to incarceration which are less costly to the country and society,” she said.
The study further shows that mental health hardly ever plays a role in a judge’s decision. This is due to the fact that there are only two psychiatrists who could conduct a mental health assessment for a criminal trial; the judiciary also told researchers that they have not received adequate training on this issue. Incarceration has a highly negative impact on women’s mental health. 54% of women reported a mental health condition starting or deteriorating while detained and several formerly incarcerated women said that even after their release they had had suicidal thoughts.
According to a sister of an incarcerated woman who has been released her sister (the former inmate) has not been engaged in anything meaningful since her release.
“She is now a drunkard and acts abnormal. The community considers her an ex-convict and not the best candidate for any job. This has led to acute depression and it’s beginning to affect her mental wellbeing”.
One of the prison officers who participated in the research accepted that they recognise these issues, but was honest to reveal they lack the financial and professional wherewithal to address the issues.
“We used to have ropes where inmates used to hang their dresses but an order was given by the manager that all ropes should be banned because we had an inmate who used such rope to strangle herself.” Correctional center officer
Marie-Claude Jean-Baptiste, Programs Director at the Vance Center for International Justice, said:
“This report has important implications for women in detention not only in Sierra Leone but all over the globe. Research has shown that women’s pathways to prison and the consequences for themselves, families and communities are eerily similar globally. The international and regional legal standards protecting the rights of women in detention are clear. We call on the Sierra Leone government and other international partners, including the donor community, to work together to uphold the rights of women in detention.”
In an open letter to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 19 organisations from the Women in Prison Network convened by the Vance Center have joined the call for measures to reduce overcrowding in women’s correctional centres to slow the spread of Covid19.
AdvocAid has over the years continued its call on the government of Sierra Leone to release vulnerable, low risk and pre-trial detainees.
