A state official revealed that the number of women prisoners in Iran are twice the prisons’ capacities.
Attahareh Nejadi, deputy for planning and coordinations in the Women and Family Affairs Directorate, presented a report on her visit to women’s prisons.
Nejadi said, “Visiting the country’s prisons, I didn’t find the situation of women as appropriate. Women with undeliberate crimes are keeping their small children in prison; their children know only of life in prison. According to the existing information, the average age of these women is between 17 and 37 years old; of course, there are older women, too.”
Explaining women’s crimes, Abd-ol Samad Khorram-Shahi, a jurist and lawyer, said, “Women who face hardships in their lives and are sexually abused, resort to drugs to forget their problems and consequently become susceptible to crimes and abuse. This is why we are witnessing an increasing number of women prisoners and feminization of some crimes.”
“When the basic necessities of life are not provided for people, misdead, prostitution and drugs show up,” Khoram-Shahi added. “All these (factors) lead to crimes. When the mother of a family is in prison, in addition to the harms inflicted on herself, her family and relatives are also affected and this foments crimes in the society.”
“The unsuitable conditions in prisons and the lack of resources, hygiene and sufficient education for women, create more difficult conditions for women, pushing them towards heavier crimes and armed robbery gangs.” (The state-run IRNA news agency- May 9, 2018)