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9 US-China L. Rev. 256 (2012)
Human Rights and Female Imprisonment

handle is hein.journals/uschinalrw9 and id is 256 raw text is: HUMAN RIGHTS AND FEMALE IMPRISONMENT Esmaeel Haditabar* Nowadays, issue of female imprisonment has become one of the important human rights matter in the world. The paper explores, based on international statistics, now more than half a million women and girls are held in penal institutions throughout the world, either as awaiting trial, pre- trial detainees (remand prisoners) or having been convicted and sentenced. The statistics related to the women entered into the prisons from selected years in Iran declare that during this period, 90,498 women suffered from the custody. The major objective of the paper is to demonstrate the need of reducing women prisoners. In this regards the criminal justice system as a whole has a particular role to offer social assistance both to the women and to theirfamilies and tofind and implement alternatives to imprisonment for women. INTRODUCTION The rate of increase in the number of women prisoners is much greater than that for men.1 In many countries, in all regions, the female prison population has increased dramatically over the last 10 years. In most countries, women constitute a minority of the prison population: usually between 2% and 8%. 2 Prison systems and prison regimes are almost invariably designed for the majority male prison population-from the architecture of prisons, to security procedures, to facilities for healthcare, family contact, work and training. Prisons tend not to meet the needs of women prisoners, and women in prison are affected by imprisonment in a particularly harsh way. Everyone has human rights, and responsibilities to respect and protect these rights may, in principle, extend across political and social boundaries. The greatest harm is done to the prisoner and his or her family. For instance, over 80 percent of imprisoned women are mothers. Worrying about their sons and daughters is a constant ordeal. Behind the pain of separation lies the ominous prospect that it may be permanent, since according to one * Esmaeel Haditabar, Assistant Prof of the University of Mazandaran & Attorney at law, Email: e.haditabar d&umz.ac.ir & ehaditabar dyahoo.com 1 Box: based on information provided to the Quaker UN Office by the respective Governments, and published by the Australian Institute of Criminology, http://www.aic.gov.au/topics/women/stats/corrections.html (accessed July 7, 2005). 2A. COYLE, A HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH TO PRISON MANAGEMENT: HANDBOOK FOR PRISON STAF (International Centre for Prison Studies, 2002), at 131. 256

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