NEWS JSDP Hands Over the First Ever Female Prison Section in Sierra Leone Posted by on Jul 16, 2008, 13:44

The Ministry of Internal Affairs, Local Government and Community Development (MIALGCD), Prisons Department, took possession today, of a newly constructed facility for female inmates in Kenema Prison. 

At a ceremony witnessed by MIALGCD, local government and prison officials, the Justice Sector Development Programme (JSDP) handed over the new building to prison authorities, to provide improved services for women in prison.

The Women’s Section in the Kenema Prison is the first ever built in Sierra Leone, dedicated to female inmates, separating their facilities from that of the male section of the prison. Funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), under the JSDP, the new facilities have been constructed by a local company, with provision for health and medical services and vocational training activities.

Various studies have shown that the human rights of women prisoners have been overlooked on the assumption that women are a small minority of the prison population. Whilst problems such as overcrowding and poor hygiene facilities affect prisoners of either gender, there are, however, many concerns which are specific to women prisoners, or  which affect them in a harsher way.

This intervention by JSDP is in line with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners which states that women and men shall so far as possible, be detained  in separate institutions. In an institution which receives both men and women, the premises allocated to women shall be entirely separate.

The new facility will improve the human rights and conditions for women in Kenema prison and provide them the opportunity to develop skills through educational and vocational training.