Abstract
The inadequate conditions of imprisonment in South African correctional facilities are well known. Health care, sanitation, food provision, access to education and reading materials, and in particular, the overcrowding, of female prisons are considerable challenges faced by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) regarding the incarceration of female prisoners[i]. A retrospective view of the conditions under which female inmates in South African correctional facilities are incarcerated is examined in this paper. Findings indicate that prison conditions in some South African female correctional facilities are poor: health care and sanitation facilities are largely inadequate, the quality of food is poor, little or no reading materials are made available, and recreational facilities are largely absent. These conditions impact negatively on the female prisoners during, and sometimes, after their incarceration.
Highlights
They note that conditions are unhygienic for many reasons, including an insufficient number of bathroom facilities, and inadequate supplies of toilet paper and soap.[4]
Between March 2007 and March 2015, female inmates represented between 2.2%and 2.3% of the total South African prison population.[6]
The overcrowding in female prisons in South Africa is not as severe as it is in male prisons, all South African prisons are filled beyond their capacity, with some prisons recorded as housing two to three times their capacity between April 2013 and March 2014.13
Summary
They note that conditions are unhygienic for many reasons, including an insufficient number of bathroom facilities, and inadequate supplies of toilet paper and soap.[4] These conditions are made worse by a prison population that is growing faster than correctional infrastructure can cope with, in terms of both quantity and quality.[5] Overcrowding places pressure on prison resources, and in turn generates tension and increases violence amongst inmates. This article attempts to contribute to the under-researched area of female imprisonment
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