Beyond the walls
A GEM chronicle…part one
The youngest ‘prisoner’ I have ever met was a ten-month-old baby at the Nsawam Female Prison. He was, unfortunately, incarcerated with his mother. Imagine, a ten-month-old toddler locked within the walls of a prison for days, weeks, months and years with no education or proper socialisation.
As alarming as I thought this was, the prison wardens saw it as a favour to the child! To them, being behind the prison walls, away from all civilisation with his mother, for a crime he was too young to comprehend, was better than being in the under-funded Social Welfare Department without a mother.
We live in a patriarchal society that is quick to throw its felons – and in some situations, simple deviants – into prison without considering the plight or well-being of their dependents.
Sadly, when we mention prisoners only the plight of male prisoners instantaneously comes to mind. Female prisoners remain, to a large extent, less visible in Ghana, both to the criminal justice system and the general public. Very little is known and/or discussed about the plight of women behind bars in our national discourse. It was against this background that my spirit celebrated at seeing the Nsawam Female Prison on the Girls Excellence Movement ‘s (GEM) activity calendar.
The night before our monthly GEM Inspiration-On-Wheels outreach to the Nsawam Female Prison, I played out a mental picture of what I thought it could feel or look like. I imagined the jail surrounded by 50-metre-high concrete walls with huge iron gates secured with large rusty bolsters, and about six tall security guards in uniform, standing on each side of the gate. One of the guards, dark, hairy, rough-faced, well-built, big feet, muscled arms and large, piercing eyes that could see through the thick walls; and anyone who attempted an escape, I swore those eyes could hunt them down.
To my surprise, while we made our way through the small entrance of the building that housed our hosts, there were no rough-faced guards at the entrance. Instead, we were welcomed by female wardens with graceful smiles; those smiles did not in any way denote the ordeals of prisoners.
After a few interactions and observations, I identified three groups of women; the women who had their children incarcerated with them, pregnant women and younger women. It was frightening to know that while trying to punish an individual for a crime committed another innocent person had to pay, in equal measure, for the same crime.
The conditions women had to withstand within this highly-gendered and marginalised system was distressing, to say the least. I watched as a mother nurtured her baby in jail. The unsanitary and deplorable conditions, the trauma, the displacement, stigma, the abusive practices that might cause physical injuries, health challenges and disrupted family life. The long-term effects this would have on the little boy are inconceivable. A boy, who could have started off with a promising future, was being forced to spend the early years of his childhood behind thick, impenetrable walls, separating him from the possibilities of life and limiting him only to the realities of life behind those walls. This adorable little boy, one of Ghana’s youngest ‘prisoners’, is probably not the only child in this unfortunate plight; he might be one among many other children in other prisons despite their innocence. And, as they grow up, the biggest challenge will be explaining to the children why they live or ever lived in prison. The obvious challenge of reorienting them cannot be overemphasised.
Objectively, why should children be admitted into prisons? I find this act inhumane and unjust.
The dangers associated with nurturing children in prison are peculiar. Appropriate amenities for mental, psychological and social growth of a child, educational and recreational facilities required for the proper development of a child are not available in prison. Also, why should a woman go to prison with a child when two people made that child? Would the father ever be imprisoned with a child? Even if that father were a single father, do you think society would watch while that child was locked up with the dad in prison? I dare say “No, that will never happen”.
Bucky Exe-Evans is recognized as one of the prominent voices advocating for women’s rights and gender equality in Ghana. She is deeply passionate about volunteering and leading for change. Bucky is an entrepreneur, a Girls Excellence Movement (GEM) mentor and the director of operations for GEM. She is also the CEO for The Good Food Company, a start-up agro-business, and a partner at GAP Auto Services Ltd.
