The Government of Kenya has made tremendous progress in deploying “therapy over punishment” interventions to address the exclusion and discrimination faced by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons through a gender lens.
Delivering the keynote address during high-level discussions on “Gendered Dynamics of Criminal Justice and Inequalities” in New York , the President’s Advisor on Women Rights Hon. Chiggai Harriette said a lot however remains to be done.
She called for the urgent decolonizing and declassifying of archaic laws, especially those that criminalize petty offenses, gender-biased laws and laws that encourage incarceration of mothers with infant children. This, she noted, subjects those children to ‘imprisonment’.
The Advisor also called for the involvement of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons in decision-making processes and in addressing their unique challenges, leading to more effective and humane criminal justice policies.
She reiterated the need for a Gender and Poverty Analysis to check how gender and poverty intersect within the criminal justice system. This data, she said, will inform policy reforms and highlight areas needing intervention.
Hon. Chiggai said the evidence-based recommendations from the research and data must be availed to policymakers to engage in lobbying efforts for policy changes that address systemic biases and promote equity within the criminal justice system.
The new policies must also consider the impact of incarceration on families, such as provisions for maintaining family connections and support for caregivers.
She also called for a formidable mind-set change through undertaking of gender-sensitive capacity building for law enforcement, legal professionals, and the Judiciary on gender responsiveness and the socio-economic factors touching individuals in the criminal justice system.
Establishment of independent bodies to monitor detention conditions and address violations of human rights, will also help address the problem.
The gender perspective on the exclusion and discrimination of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons in decision-making processes reveals significant disparities and challenges faced by these individuals, shaped by a variety of intersecting factors including gender, race, socioeconomic status, and criminal history.
Kenya’s prison population stands at 61,298. Out of this 58,035 are male, 3,265 are female and 298 are children. It is noteworthy that Kenya does not imprison children but the Prison Service has Borstal Institutions that hold the children. This, in itself, is in conflict with the law.
Despite women in prison having the smaller percentage of the incarcerated population, they face unique challenges, such as higher rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), mental health issues, and economic instability.