The “Woman Wahala Na Prison” study has several key recommendations for Sierra Leone to recognize in law, policy and practice that inequality is a driver, condition and consequence of women’s imprisonment. With the publication of this study, the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice and AdvocAid further advised that Sierra Leone must also tackle discrimination at all stages of the criminal justice process, in line with its international obligations under CEDAW and other human rights instruments. Such measures they say are necessary if it is to fully protect the human rights of women in its prisons. “To do so, it must eradicate policies and laws that are discriminatory in intent and in effect by, among others, ensuring that the country’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment policy is a lived and comprehensive document.”
In order to create a more just and effective criminal justice system and to address discrimination in law several recommendations were listed as below:
- Decriminalizing and declassifying petty offences such as loitering, fraudulent conversion and obtaining goods or money by false pretences, insulting conduct, and minor traffic offences;
- Abolishing the mandatory death penalty and developing sentencing guidelines that fully take into account mitigating factors such as a history of abuse or mental health conditions;
- Training legal professionals to ensure that a history of abuse is considered where appropriate;
- Developing gender-specific defences and/or mitigating factors that take into account slow-burning reactions of victim of violence;
- Codifying customary law and amending it to comply with the principle of non-discrimination.
To address discrimination in the criminal justice system, as required under CEDAW and the Bangkok Rules and to encouraging alternative dispute resolution or civil summonses to protect the rights of women in contact with the criminal justice system, we make the following specific recommendations to the government, prison services, and the judiciary:
- To develop gender-specific alternatives to detention that take into account women’s characteristics, experiences, and needs without risking exposing them to harm by the State.
- Non-custodial measures that address the causes of women’s imprisonment are not only more cost-effective but also greatly reduce some of the more devastating consequences of detention; they provide space for restoration and reintegration resolve minor crime, and putting in place community-based noncustodial measures such as diversion, community service and community-based treatment;
- Providing gender-responsive training for judicial and law enforcement officers and strengthening police accountability mechanisms;
- Conducting gender-sensitive trials and adopting sentencing guidelines that consider issues such as prior experiences of abuse and poor mental health, and correcting the gender imbalance in juries;
- Ensuring that bail conditions take into account the social and economic realities of women in Sierra Leone;
- Providing information on the rights of a woman suspected or charged of a crime in a criminal justice process in a language that she can understand and in a manner that is accessible to illiterate persons, minorities and persons with disabilities;
- Greater investment in legal empowerment services such as paralegals and lawyers. ZIJ/14/08/2020
By Zainab Iyamide Joaque