The Strengthening of Gender Responsive Mechanisms for effective Rehabilitation for women Prisoners.

Abstract

Title; Strengthening Gender Responsive Mechanisms for effective rehabilitation for women prisoners.

Abstract;   

Globally, empirical evidence shows that there has been an increase in the number of women being incarcerated. The worldwide Prison Report indicates that since 2000 there has been a 53% increase in women imprisonment.   While men’s prison population has reduced in the United States, the women’s prison population has increased since 2009.  The studies consistently show that In the Sub-Saharan Africa, there has been an increase of 22% and in Kenya, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that there are about 10,644 convicted women. For a long time, incarceration used to be associated with men, today the socioeconomic conditions due to changing roles in society is pushing women to engage in crime.  Approximately around 700,000 women and girls are detained around the world, this represents between 2% and 9% of most countries’ prison populations.  The paper attempts to explore the increase in Women incarceration and strengthening gender responsive mechanisms for effective rehabilitation. The need to emphasize on the approaches that are more rehabilitative and not punitive. This paper is based on a systematic review of literature that examined the factors that pushes women to engage in crime and the importance of gender responsive approaches on women prisoners so as to rehabilitate them effectively. The studies analysed are both qualitative and mixed method primary studies. The paper recommends that the government should create a more conducive environment for the application of the approaches, the family to act as a strong support system for re-entry for effective rehabilitation to be realized, being cognizant of the unique needs of women prisoners. In essence, a strong emphasis on the collaborative effort between the government, the community, the family and the international partners should be adopted in order to enhance sustainable solutions.