Muhammad Siddique Lohar, Ramesh Kumar, Jamil Ahmed, Zulfikar Ali Gorar.
Effects of harassment on health of women prisoners at a prison in Pakistan.
Pak J Public Health Jan ;2(4):25-8.

Introduction: Pakistan ranks 125th out of 169 countries on the Gender Development Index (GDI) and has high prevalence rates of violence against women. The objective of this original research was to determine the frequencies and identify patterns of harassment among women in a prison of Karachi. Methods: It was a cross sectional survey conducted from 1st April 2011 to 31st June 2011 of all women incarcerated at Karachi Central Prison. A total of 70 women prisoners were present in the prison at the time of the study. However, only 38 women prisoners consented to provide respective information. Women prisoners were interviewed on a pretested questionnaire after obtaining necessary ethical approval from the authorities. Result: Study results indicate the frequency of harassment in the women prison Karachi was 21%. It was predominant in ≤ 35 age group, which is around 75% of all women in jail. Most of the i.e. 87% of the harassed women were literate. Majority of study participants were married and study revealed that unmarried women are harassed twice than married women. The patterns and frequencies of emotional harassment experienced by women prisoners were; dirty looks and unwanted appreciation of beauty and figure. The women harassed in age group 15-25 were more in this study as compared to rest of the women. Additionally about 31% of middle class women faced harassment. Conclusion: This study shows that a considerable harassment exists amongst incarcerated women at the central prison Karachi. Prisoner women themselves had no clear appreciation of the problem or its dynamics. Steps need to be taken to prevent the women from harassment in the prisons and strong measures be done to protect them against any potential harms during incarceration.

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