Imran Khan sets up committee to address plight of women prisoners

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday constituted a committee to assess and look into the plight of women incarcerated in prisons across the country.

Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari will head the committee that has been given four months’ time to pull off the task. Other members of the committee are secretaries of the Ministry of Human Rights, the Ministry of Interior, the Home Department of four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan, Inspector General Prisons (provinces and GB), founder and the executive director of Justice Project Pakistan.

It is required to suggest a comprehensive and workable system of governance in prisons in Pakistan to ameliorate the plight of women prisoners. The committee will review prison rules and other relevant laws with a view to suggesting gender specific changes in order to bring improvements for women inmates.

It will also review the situation of children accompanying women in jails and work to help mainstream such children, especially with regard to their education and social integration.

The committee will ensure availability of gender-specific services for women prisoners addressing their physical, psychological, emotional, and sociological needs.

PM Khan sets up committee to address plight of women prisoners