Poverty and social problems drove them into the drug trade

Prisons in Southeast Asia are teeming with women

  • Prisons in Asian countries provide inmates with professional training. Archives

  • Thailand tightens punishment for minor drug offenses. Archives

  • A large number of those released returned to commit the crime. Archives

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Research revealed that Southeast Asia has the highest percentage of female inmates in prison, with more than 80% of them imprisoned for drug issues. Common causes of these crimes are social problems, poverty and domestic violence. Therefore, experts are pushing for effective rehabilitation in the hope of ensuring a better life for women prisoners and reducing the rate of re-commission of crimes, after their release.

Independent researcher Rob Allen says, based on the results of research on the social reintegration of female prisoners in Southeast Asia, the region has the highest proportion of female prisoners in the world. The percentage is exceptionally high in Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. In Southeast Asia, 10% of the prison population is female, and four out of five female prisoners in Thailand and Indonesia are incarcerated for drug offenses.

A review shows that female prisoners are involved in drug crimes due to poverty and the need to support their families financially. Women prisoners are forced, sometimes by physical force, to work in the drug trade and promotion. Prisoners with such experiences are at greater risk of re-committing the crime. Possession of drugs for the sake of individual use was a factor, too, but less important, and in some cases it was domestic violence that drove women to drugs as a start.

To solve the prison overcrowding problem, Allen adds, it is necessary "to examine the entire criminal justice system, from identifying the root causes to finding potential solutions." After considering the motives behind the crime and providing rehabilitation and social reintegration, the concerned parties must also take into account how the prisoners will be able to start a new life, and its quality after their release. Assessments must be carried out to identify safety risks for them when they return to their families. Moreover, Allen believes, the government and civil society must play a role in providing reliable support to female ex-prisoners, through financial allocations or local and national cooperation mechanisms.

Rehabilitation

The Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Muriel Jordan, says that the importance of rehabilitation and social reintegration is defined by many international laws and conventions; These are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is a multilateral treaty on human rights, the Nelson Mandela Rules, which define the United Nations Standard Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, and the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Measures for Women Offenders.

These international guidelines aim to reduce re-commission of crime and promote public safety. Today, much research shows that the rehabilitation of female prisoners through education, vocational training, and related activities can reduce re-commission rates, especially among female prisoners, whose number has increased by 50% since 2000.

Specialists are calling for the social reintegration process to cover both periods of detention and post-detention, in order to understand the conditions of female prisoners, including their motivations, in addition to problems such as domestic violence, drug issues, and difficulty obtaining housing or a job.

Monitor progress

Jordan says that to curb re-commission of the crime, states have provided vocational training for prisoners to work in the skilled-labor construction industry, which pays construction workers 25 percent above the minimum wage. Such training enhances prisoners' professional skills, financial security, and the opportunity for normalcy on a sustainable basis while minimizing the risks of re-criminality.

Asian countries also collaborated with the National Association of Construction Workers to help former prisoners find jobs and start their own businesses.

The coordinator of the criminal justice program at the United Nations office, Issyah Yuliani, says that before the release of female prisoners, in Indonesia, the competent authorities provide support for social reintegration, such as mental health counseling, addiction treatment, and opportunities to reconnect with family members.

Indonesia has also made progress by passing a law requiring families to inform authorities if any of their family members are addicted to drugs. This legislation has increased the opportunities for families to provide a new opportunity for female prisoners, making it easier for them to gain acceptance and reintegration into the family and society.

High rate

The director of the Office of Criminals Treatment Rules in Bangkok, Shuntit Choynurah, says that the Correctional Department's data show that there are about 380,000 prisoners in Thailand, of whom 12.6% are women, or 48,000 female inmates. The average age of female prisoners is 34 years. The largest group of women prisoners (44%) were sentenced to two to five years in prison; The second group (18%) received sentences of five to 10 years, while the penalties for the third group (10%) ranged from 20 to 50 years in prison. Among all female prisoners, 83% were convicted of drug offenses, 10.3% were convicted of theft, and another 1.4% were convicted of physical assault. As for education, two out of three prisoners did not complete secondary school. And 80% of the prisoners are mothers.

The rate of re-commission of the crime, over the first three years after release, reached 34% among former prisoners in Thailand. The released women are returning to the crime for two main reasons; The first is the lack of adequate and effective training in the face of prison overcrowding. The second is the problems that occurred during the post-release period, such as stigma, low self-confidence, unemployment, family disintegration, and housing problems.

Additional barrier

The outbreak of the Coronavirus has disrupted the rehabilitation and social integration of prisoners in many Asian countries, because it restricts prisoners' communication with their families or children, and limits the access of external agencies that provide vocational training at the prison. As the threat of "Covid-19" persisted, fears and tension grew, to the point that the provision of vocational training for prisoners was canceled midway. Given that the pandemic affected societies and economies around the world, experts believe that without adequate pre-release support and aftercare services, this situation will create an additional barrier for released female prisoners to reintegrate into societies.

• In Southeast Asia, 10% of the prison population is female, and four out of five female prisoners in Thailand and Indonesia are imprisoned for drug crimes.

• 34% rate of re-commission of crime, over the first three years, after release, in Thailand.

Collaborative initiative

Thailand tries to reduce the recrimination rate in various ways. For example, it implemented a rehabilitation program for female prisoners before their release, and established the Reintegration and Employment Assistance Center, through the Reform Department, with the aim of helping former inmates find jobs that are compatible with their backgrounds and living conditions outside prison, in the face of changing economic and social contexts. And in early 2020, the Thai government also introduced tax incentives to encourage companies and institutions to hire ex-inmates.

Meanwhile, Thailand strengthened the social partnership model by strengthening collaboration with 50 experts, from nine different groups, including external professionals, therapists specializing in mental empowerment, money management, career development, business planning, family reunification, and post support. Release. This collaborative initiative was piloted in Ayutthaya Central Prison. Under this initiative, 34 prisoners received 250 hours of training during the three months preceding their release.

Criminologists widely agree that this increase is not due to increased criminal activity for women, but due to tougher penalties for minor drug offenses.

Excessive arrest

There is no data showing exactly how many women work in the so-called "drug mules". However, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has raised concerns about the "excessive imprisonment" of women working in transporting and delivering drugs, and the growing research is revealing critical links between gender, crime and justice.

Yoni was elated when a friend told her about a lucrative "travel job". "I wanted to" get to know the world, "she said in a video call via WhatsApp from the Indonesian city of Medan. A high school graduate dreamed of going to university to study economics, but she had to work as a waitress to support her family. Her mother was sick and the construction work her father did did not cover the family bills.

Yoni says that the soldier, an elderly Indonesian woman, took her to a nearby island for an interview. There, she was told her job would start in Cambodia, and that her local boss would be a guy named Peter. Prison terms of 14 to 20 years were common for female drug traffickers, who were prosecuted in the city, and are among the harshest sentences in the 18 jurisdictions examined in the report. "There appears to be no acknowledgment of the reasons for women becoming involved in drugs," the report said, and "low-level engagement" is rarely seen as a mitigating factor.

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