LICADHO Highlights Plight of Women in Prison to Mark International Women's Day
Published on 8 March 2011
The number of women and girls in Cambodian prisons has soared 41 percent since 2007, outpacing the already extraordinary overall growth rate of 29 percent during the same period.
At the end of 2010, a total of 914 women were incarcerated in Cambodia. An average of 12 of these women was pregnant; while an average of 47 young children were living alongside their incarcerated mothers.
LICADHO and its partner NGOs are marking International Women's Day this year by drawing attention to the plight of imprisoned women and children. LICADHO and its partners will deliver food and supplies to female prisoners at 18 prisons and hold special events at Correctional Center 2 ("CC2") and Takhmao prisons. The events at CC2 and Takhmao will include traditional dancing and games, as well as guest speakers who will spread out International Women's Day impression.
With Cambodia's overcrowding crisis already stretching prison budgets thin, women - especially those with children - often bear the brunt of the system's dysfunction. A recent LICADHO report, for example, found that prisons generally give no extra food allowance for pregnant women or for children who live in prison.
The prison system budgets only 2,800 riel (USD$0.70) per prisoner per day to cover the costs of food, water, electricity, clothing and medical care. Not a single prison surveyed provided systematic prenatal or postnatal care for mothers.
"Cambodia's prison system does not have the ability to provide for the needs of mothers and children," said LICADHO president Dr. Pung Chhiv Kek. "Medical care is abysmal, the nutritional value of the food is inadequate, water is often contaminated, and there are very few opportunities for education. Unfortunately, many mothers have no other choice but to take their children to prison with them."
Problems are not limited to women with children. With limited space, some prisons have difficulty keeping male and female appropriately separated. The prison system also suffers from a relative lack of female staff, who make up only 10 percent of the 2,043 custody staff currently working in Cambodian prisons.
PDF: Download full statement in English - Download full statement in Khmer
