Supporting Female Prisoners and Their Families: The Case of Cambodia
Gender, Criminalization, Imprisonment and Human Rights in Southeast Asia
ISBN: 978-1-80117-287-5, eISBN: 978-1-80117-286-8
Publication date: 29 March 2022
Abstract
Whilst small, the number of women in Cambodian prisons has been growing rapidly. These women are often first-time offenders, detained on drug or poverty-related offenses. Most women are detained pre-trial, then sentenced harshly. Children in Cambodia can accompany their mother in prison, but there is no standardized process for this to occur. Conditions within the prisons have been described as substandard and extremely challenging, with a lack of appropriate nutrition, health care, and environmental stimulation. There is also a lack of humanitarian programs addressing the specific needs and challenges faced by women prisoners, and their children. This chapter provides an overview of the work of This Life Cambodia, a Non-Government Organization (NGO), which delivers targeted programs to both women and their children, during and after imprisonment. It discusses the role of the This Life in Family (TLIF) program, which provides valued support to vulnerable families at risk of separation. The program primarily targets mothers in prison from poor, disadvantaged and multiple deprived communities, who are accompanied by, or separated from, their children.
Keywords
Citation
Gorter, B. and Gover, P.J. (2022), "Supporting Female Prisoners and Their Families: The Case of Cambodia", Jefferson, A.M. and Jeffries, S. (Ed.) Gender, Criminalization, Imprisonment and Human Rights in Southeast Asia (Emerald Studies in Activist Criminology), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 45-57. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-286-820221004
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022 Billy Gorter and Philip J. Gover