This women’s month, can you help women in prison?
Women incarcerated in South Africa – either in police holding cells, awaiting trial, or sentenced facilities – are struggling with a lack of basic hygiene and reproductive health materials. Jennifer*, a formerly incarcerated woman, explains:
“So, they would give to a big cell, a cell of thirty — no sanitary towels. Thirty in a cell, [and] they would put four toilet rolls there and those four toilet rolls must be divided to everyone in that cell … once a week. Now, there is one toilet and one shower, and one basin per four cells and one basin for face wash. And we are 30 to 35 in one cell.”
Sadly, Jennifer’s experience is not unique. Many incarcerated women may have to go days without soap to shower or wash. They face shortages of toilet paper and insufficient sanitary pads. Women have shared that they are given four or less pads a month, and often must show proof of menstruation before being given this basic amount.
No doubt, it will take a long time to address many of the challenges incarcerated women face. However, you can make a difference in the life of one woman today and remove the daily indignity and humiliation that so many women experience. Just Detention International-South Africa (JDI-SA) and incarcerated women are asking you to donate to help women behind bars with basic yet essential hygiene and reproductive health materials.
Here is what they need inside:
- Toilet paper
- Sanitary pads
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Soap
- Deodorant [roll on]
- Body lotion
- Shaving sticks
- Face towel
You can donate any amount. R25, R50, or R75 will go a long way. As Olivia*, another formerly incarcerated woman, put it, your donation will “give women a little bit more self-respect inside prison”. R150 is enough to buy all these items for one person. JDI-SA will make sure that your gift gets to a woman inside. We will also make sure that, wherever possible, we purchase these items from local, women-owned businesses.
Your donation will also contribute towards the realisation of incarcerated women’s vision for change, as expressed below.
“Fear, humiliation and low self-esteem are some of the roller coaster emotions incarcerated women experience. Now, imagine on top of all these emotions, so many of these women lose their dignity! Seeing the embarrassment in a fellow sister’s eyes because … she has no roll-on; seeing an embarrassed sister because the pads received are not enough. These are just two of the ways I have seen my fellow sisters lose their dignity during incarceration. Some women are not able to purchase these basic essentials. Therefore, our vision for change is a toiletry parcel that will help women not to lose their dignity.”
This artwork, created by an incarcerated woman, represents their vision:
Figure 1 A vision for change for essential toiletries in the correctional facility.
About JDI-SA
Just Detention International – South Africa (JDI-SA) is a health and human rights organisation that seeks to end sexual abuse in all forms of detention. JDI-SA is the only organisation in Africa dedicated to ending sexual abuse in detention. JDI-SA works to: hold government accountable for prisoner rape; promote public attitudes that value the dignity and safety of incarcerated people; and ensure that survivors of this violence can get the help they need.
JDI-SA’s work is providing a window into the daily experiences of incarceration and the women’s health and safety concerns, including lack of basic hygiene and adequate nutrition, limited sexual and reproductive health products, and psychosocial support services. To learn more about the work of JDI-SA click here.
* Not their real name