Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Over 3,500 women and children locked up in jails across Pakistan are living in deplorable conditions in the absence of satisfactory prison facilities.

These details were shared in a meeting of a national committee formed to improve the conditions of the imprisoned women and children organised by the Federal Ombudsman Office on Friday.

The committee on jail reforms formed on the Supreme Court’s order submitted its report, highlighting miserable conditions of women and children.

Officers visited several prisons across the country to gather first-hand information about the living conditions of inmates and were asked to report on the overall condition at jails as well.

Speakers at the meeting shared that currently there are around 1,600 females, 1,500 juveniles and 425 children living with their mothers in major jails across the country.

Committee Chairperson and human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir stressed to change the entire system to improve the inmates’ conditions. “This is obviously not an easy task and no doubt very challenging. The responsibility, however, lies with the government,” she said.

While citing the 1980s and 1990s, she said that the sexual abuse complaints registered by female prisoners witnessed a drastic decline. “But the issue still persists in some jails,” she added.