Human Rights of Incarcerated Women in India: Empty Rhetoric or Evolutionary Progress?

Abstract

The plight of female prisoners is not unknown globally; the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, popularly known as “Bangkok Rules”, is the primary international instrument dedicated to incarcerated women. The Indian National Prison Manual, 2016 is based upon the principles of these rules along with another UN-led “Nelson Mandela Rules”. However, the Ministry of Women & Children Development led an exclusive study in 2018 titled “Women in Prisons” that recorded the major issues & human rights violations of such women behind bars due to various reasons like inadequate female staff, accommodation, medical access along with basic right of healthy food. This paper hypothesized that according to the historical & current scenario, prisons in the country specifically still do not cater to the necessities for the subsistence of the incarcerated women. The study intends to analyze major concerns like obligations of the Indian Prison Administration vis-à-vis the progress made till now, specifically concerning Female Prisoners.