African Women 
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| Title: | Women, Criminality and Multifocal Empowerment Responses: Some Prospects for Botswana |
| Authors: | Modie-Moroka, Tirelo Sossou, Marie-Antoinette  |
| Year: | 2001 |
| Periodical: | Journal of Social Development in Africa (ISSN 1012-1080) |
| Volume: | 16 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 5-29 |
| Language: | English |
| Notes: | biblio. refs. |
| Geographic terms: | Botswana Southern Africa |
| Subjects: | prisoners women Law, Human Rights and Violence Women's Issues Law, Legal Issues, and Human Rights sociology crime empowerment social problems |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the situation of women in prison in Botswana. Although the proportion of prisoners who are women is relatively small, women constitute a growing subset of the entire prison population whose needs are different from those of men. Whereas factors that draw women to criminal activities may not differ markedly for men and women, women's crime is a reaction to the special circumstances of their prolonged victimization and dispossession. The paper explores how prisons have historically served to enforce and reinforce women's traditional roles and foster dependency and passivity. It combines empirical evidence collected through qualitative research conducted in six female prisons in Botswana with feminist and empowerment models used to highlight the personal experiences and psychological problems of women in prison. The paper argues for the development of gender-appropriate and gender-sensitive social services, economic and personal empowerment, legal aid, medical assistance and counselling, among others, in order to help women prisoners take control of their lives. Bibliogr., sum. |
