Former female prison inmates : Sindh govt to build special hostels: minister

KARACHI: The Sindh government intends to build special hostels to provide secure accommodation facilities to former female prison inmates to help their drive to gain economic independence in their lives after release from jail.

Sindh Minister for Women Development, Shaheena Sher Ali, disclosed this while speaking at an Eid Millan reception organised at the Central Prison Karachi for its woman inmates and their accompanying minor children. The National Forum for Environment & Health (NFEH) hosted the reception.

Speaking to the reception participants, the Women Development Minister noted that female prison inmates, after their release from imprisonment, had to face social ostracism, and even their family members weren’t able to accept them back into their fold.

She said that a proper shelter should be available to a former female prisoner to empower her to live her free life honourably after she faced rejection from her family, increasing her socio-economic vulnerability.

If this shelter was missing, then there is a greater chance that these women would again commit a crime and land back in jail, said the Women Development Minister. She said the central prisons in Sindh were full of such female inmates who faced multiple imprisonments after the recurrence of crime.

She said the Sindh government would build the special hostels to help former female prison inmates gain economic self-reliance to live their lives freely and honourably with no chance that they would again commit a crime due to their vulnerability. She informed the audience that the next provincial budget would contain the financial allocations for building such hostels.

The Women Development Minister said the Sindh government would fully assist the drive of the female prison inmates to acquire formal education and professional skills to become properly learned and skilled members of society after their release.

She said the provincial government would also provide proper schooling facilities to children who stayed with their imprisoned mothers at the jail. She said the provincial government would fully welcome support from bona fide non-profits and charities in this regard.

DIG Women Prison, Sheeba Shah, told the audience at the reception that certificate courses based on 10 different vocational skills were offered to female jail inmates to help them join lucrative professional fields after their release from the prison.

She said the certificates issued by the National Vocational & Technical Training Commission and Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority shouldn’t contain any indication that they were given to prison inmates to help them respectfully secure jobs or establish their businesses after they are released from jail.

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