adminWhile some women who commit crimes are from impoverished families and have very little formal education, nowadays women from affluent homes also commit various crimes. The crimes range from fraud, theft, domestic violence, termination of pregnancy, commercial sex work, dangerous drugs, shoplifting just to name a few.
Just like many prisoners, after their release from prison many fail to get the sympathy they want from friends and relatives forcing them to be social outcasts. Some of them, however, try as much as possible to live normal lives. Others in terms of behaviour end up being worse than they were before imprisonment.
The gendered roles of a woman at times place the woman in a very precarious position that may force her to react to situations with anger and outbursts that may result in fatalities. As highlighted in the book, A Tragedy of Lives: Women in Prison in Zimbabwe, some of the women prisoners may be women who were exploited as cheap labour in marriage or abused by their spouses. Other women just seek revenge to these insults and abuse in different ways.
In the same book, Maureen, a former prisoner who was interviewed by the researcher alluded to the fact that she decided to burn the hut where her husband and mother-in-law were seated because the husband had taken her money after harvesting the cotton she had grown and spent it all with a girlfriend. Unfortunately one of the grandchildren who was in the hut died on the spot while the other one spent a year in hospital.
Another interviewee, Ellen, related how she beat her aunt to death after the aunt had taken her undergarments. Ellen, who suspected that her aunt wanted to use her clothes for witchcraft, was then convicted of culpable homicide. In a separate incident, Maria, who quarrelled and fought frequently with her husband, beaten up badly and cut with a razor blade on her arms and inner thighs, was convicted of murder after she hit the husband with a pole on the head in defence during one of their fights. She was sentenced to nine years in jail.
Should they suffer even if they act in defence? Women at times, when they are faced with such difficult situations, may react in a desperate move to protect themselves.
Samakayi-Mukarati, one of the researchers on female prisoners, pointed out that female prisoners constitute about 3,5 percent of the entire prison population in Zimbabwe. As such, women end up confined in a male-dominated space which places them in a very complicated moral fibre system. Their situation might be worsened by the fact that their needs as women are far different from the needs of men. Menstruation and lack of proper sanitation facilities compounds the situation. Women who take small children with them to prison experience a more painful detention.
Women prisoners who gave their testimonies on how they ended up in prison postulated that at times one can come out of prison worse than before in terms of behaviour. The inmates fight and quarrel during the evening. Some use obscene language. It was highlighted that even the prison guards themselves used vulgar language and also shout obscenities at prisoners. This makes it difficult for the inner person to change.
In another case, one woman stole school fees she had collected at a secondary school in Penhalonga and loaned it to other teachers at high interest. In a similar incident another woman also defrauded Citrus Estate of 30 tonnes of maize and 30 tonnes of soya beans. The woman had taken advantage of the poor accounting system at the estate to commit the crime. Sheila, who worked at the POSB, also wrote and signed withdrawal slips till her account had an overdraft of Z$62 000. She used the money to build a house for her parents in Marondera. When the issue was discovered, she was sentenced to 33 months in prison.
In cases that involved reproductive rights, women interviewed had stolen babies from clinics and hospitals to cover up faked pregnancies. Other crimes included the usual baby dumping and abortion. From these testimonies most of the women regretted and repented but it was the relatives and neighbours who feared for their children after their release.
Some of the women were arrested for selling mbanje as well as getting into illicit rhino horns deals as well as buying and selling gold. It is sad to note that most of the women were trapped into these illegal deals in order to support their children and most of them had been deserted by their husbands for other women or that they wanted to make ends meet after the loss of their husbands hence some crimes are committed out of desperation.
The underlying fact is that prisons in Zimbabwe are not suitable for women considering their various needs. According to a contribution in the same research, the facilities and rehabilitation programmes are based on male needs. However, recently there have been some improvements in dealing with pregnant and nursing mothers.
While some prisoners vow to refrain from the same behaviour, a former inmate had this to say: “. . . I stopped shoplifting for a little while after I came back from prison. I am sorry to say I am shoplifting again. I know it’s risky but what else can I do to earn money?”
The question one might then ask is whether the sentences and the prison conditions are deterrent enough.
*Vaidah Mashangwa is the provincial development officer in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development. She can be contacted on 09 889224/ 0772 111 592. Email [email protected]
Online Reporter